LOS ANGELES (WKRC) — A student died after falling from a four-story building Wednesday at Benjamin Franklin High School in Los Angeles’ Highland Park neighborhood, authorities said.
Per Fox 11, Los Angeles Fire Department crews were called to the campus shortly before 1 p.m. and took the 18-year-old male student to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to police.
The school was locked down for nearly three hours as investigators worked at the scene. Los Angeles Unified School District officials said the campus reopened after law enforcement gave clearance.
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the death. The student’s name has not been released.
Witnesses told local outlets they believed the student had been involved in an altercation before the fall. Video obtained by Fox 11 shows a fight inside a classroom. One of the students, who was continuously punched, left the classroom, grabbed a balcony railing and lifted himself over the side.
Jessica Gomez, a parent at the school, said she immediately called her children after learning of the emergency.
“My heart was racing,” Gomez told KABC-TV. “I had to call my children to see if they were OK because no parent wants to have that phone call saying that your son or daughter unfortunately died.”
The Los Angeles School Police Department and the fire department are also investigating. Fox 11 reported that there have been no charges or arrests.