LAPD makes bold new claim amid investigation into LA high school students jumping death

The LAPD says it still can’t connect alleged bullying to the death of a Los Angeles high school student who went over a fourth-floor railing after a brutal classroom clash — despite his family’s claims and video showing the confrontation that preceded his fatal fall.Xavier Nungaray-Martinez, 17, died Sept.30 at Benjamin Franklin High School in Highland Park.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner later ruled the manner of death suicide, finding multiple blunt traumatic injuries to the teen’s head and torso.But the police investigation isn’t over, and detectives say they’re still trying to piece together what happened in the moments before Nungaray-Martinez went over the railing.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story “At this preliminary stage of the investigation, detectives have not identified evidence establishing a connection between allegations of bullying and the student’s death,” the LAPD said Wednesday.The department said its Robbery-Homicide Division is reviewing reports that bullying may have played a role, while also examining other factors and waiting for the final autopsy report.Police cautioned that their preliminary assessment should not be treated as a final determination.The video from inside the school provides a grim glimpse of what happened before the fall.Broadcast footage shows Nungaray-Martinez being confronted by another student while an elderly teacher tries to intervene.

The student in the black backpack repeatedly punches him, eventually knocking him to the floor.Then comes the chilling moment captured on video, with the classmate apparently taunting him: “Run, n—a, run.”Nungaray-Martinez gets back up and races from the classroom into an outdoor hallway.The other student follows behind.

Moments later, the teenager...