Retired FOX10 Chief Meteorologist John Edd Thompson attacked on 81st birthday

By Brendan Kirby

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    MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — John Edd Thompson, the longtime chief meteorologist for FOX10 News until he retired in 2009, suffered an attack at a gas station in Mobile on Tuesday – the same day he turned 81.

Thompson, who retired in 2009, said he had just eaten lunch with his wife and had pulled in to get gas at the Murphy USA station on University Boulevard near Cottage Hill Road. He said a white man in is mid- to late-20s came up to him and asked for money. He said when he told the man he did not carry cash, the assailant called him a liar and cursed.

“I started to get into the right side of the car,” he said. “And he grabbed me by his right hand and started punching me in the face.”

Thompson made a police report on Wednesday, the day following the incident. She said Thompson told police he initially did not believe it was worth reporter. Sgt. Katrina Frazier, a Mobile police spokeswoman, said the department has assigned a detective to the case but that he has not yet had a chance to speak with Thompson.

Frazier urged people to report crimes as soon as possible.

“We would like for them to contact police immediately,” she said.

Thompson showed off bruising on his arms and knee, including a particularly big splotch on his left arm that he said bled profusely.

“Then he decided to throw me down on the concrete. … I got thrown down on the concrete,” he said. “And before it was over with, he got in his car and he acted like he was gonna run me over.”

Thompson said after bystanders said to call 911, the man hopped in his dark green Ford and sped off down University Boulevard toward Grelot Road.

Thompson said he sought medical attention and learned he had suffered sprains but no broken bones. He said he reported the assault to Mobile police the next day.

It has been quite a long time, Thompson said, since he was in a physical fight.

“When you get to be 81, you don’t go around looking for fights,” he said.

Thompson said he believes the incident was random. He said he does not believe his attacker recognized him.

“I have a feeling also that he was on something because it set him off – like he was mad at the world,” he said. “And I was his world that he was going to punch out.”

Thompson said he did not get a good enough look to provide a detailed description and did not get the man’s tag number.

“I was looking him in the eye, and he was looking me in the eye and punching,” he said.

Thompson said he hopes police managed to obtain surveillance footage of the incident.

“Because if they have the video, we can see exactly what happened,” he said.

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