Thomas Mello, 36, was fatally shot in the early morning hours of October 12, 2025, on the 200 block of Falcon Avenue in Long Beach’s Alamitos Beach neighborhood. Officers found him just before 1:30 a.m. with a gunshot wound; he was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead. The Medical Examiner recorded the cause as a gunshot wound to the chest.

Witnesses told reporters that Mello had been helping two friends load musical instruments into a vehicle outside his home when two men approached and demanded the gear. Mello reportedly refused, deployed Mace on one of the assailants, and was then shot. The sidewalk showed signs of the confrontation, including a bullet hole in a fence. Friends and coworkers described him as a devoted bassist active in the city’s music scene, who hosted open jams and performed with local bands.

Police arrested 25-year-old Jose Garcia-Linares near the 700 block of Orange Avenue the same day and booked him on suspicion of murder. On October 21 a SWAT team served a warrant in Huntington Beach and arrested 27-year-old Felipe Ramirez of Long Beach; he was also booked for murder. Detectives are treating the case as an attempted robbery that escalated to homicide and have presented it to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Investigators ask anyone with information to come forward.