A classroom fight at Benjamin Franklin High School was followed by a student’s fatal fall from a fourth-floor balcony, leaving Los Angeles police to reconstruct a sequence that was captured in multiple videos on campus.
The incident unfolded shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, at the Highland Park school. The Los Angeles Fire Department transported the student to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Los Angeles Times.
What happened immediately before the fall has become a major part of the investigation. Video obtained by FOX 11 shows two students fighting inside a classroom as a teacher repeatedly tells them to stop. One student is seen punching the other on the floor before the fight appears to break up.
After another punch, the student who had been hit leaves the classroom. A second recording shows him farther along the fourth-floor corridor with another student behind him before he goes over the balcony railing moments later. Police have not publicly said what caused him to go over the railing, and LAPD Officer Rosario Cervantes told the Times there was “no evidence of foul play.”
Moments Before
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FOX 11’s reporting provides the clearest available account of what the recordings show while also highlighting an important limit in the evidence.
The outlet reported that the second video shows the student walking along the corridor with another student carrying a backpack behind him. FOX 11 said it had not been confirmed whether that was the same student involved in the classroom fight.
Police later provided another distinction. Preliminary evidence indicated that the student who died was not being actively chased, threatened or followed at the exact moment he went over the railing, according to FOX 11.
The other student involved in the classroom fight has been identified and interviewed. No arrest or charges related to the incident had been announced as of Thursday, and police had not publicly established what started the confrontation.
Three-Hour Lockdown
The death prompted an immediate lockdown at Franklin High as Los Angeles police and Los Angeles School Police responded.
Students remained on campus for nearly three hours, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. Student Andrew Rivera told the station he heard a “big thump” before learning that the campus had been locked down.
Another student, Welly Eng, described a dispute preceding the fall but did not claim to know precisely what caused it.
By Wednesday evening, flowers and candles were appearing outside the school’s gates.
Back To School
Classes resumed Thursday with additional mental health professionals and support staff on campus.
In a message distributed to the school community and provided to news outlets through Los Angeles Unified School District, Principal Marine Davtyan said privacy and confidentiality rules limited what the school could disclose about the student or incident.
“We recognize that events such as this can affect students and staff in different ways,” Davtyan wrote, adding that counseling and a safe place to talk would be available throughout the day.
A community vigil was also planned outside Franklin High Thursday evening as friends and classmates continued adding to the memorial.
Police have not publicly identified the student. LAPD’s death investigation remains active as police review the available video and witness accounts to determine the exact sequence leading to the fall.