A student has died after falling from a fourth-floor balcony at Benjamin Franklin High School in Highland Park, Los Angeles, following an altercation in a classroom, authorities said.
Emergency crews were called to the campus, in the 800 block of North Avenue 54, at about 12.59pm on Wednesday, 30 September. The boy was taken to hospital but later pronounced dead.
Police have identified him only as a male juvenile and have not released his name or age. The Los Angeles Police Department is leading the investigation, with Los Angeles School Police and the Los Angeles Fire Department also responding.
Video recorded inside the school and obtained by local television showed two pupils fighting in a fourth-floor classroom. One student appeared to leave the room before being pursued along a corridor, after which the other student apparently went over the balcony railing.
Witnesses described hearing a disturbance before seeing pupils fighting near the balcony. However, police have not formally confirmed the precise circumstances of the fall and said there was no evidence of foul play.
The campus was placed on lockdown while officers investigated. Students were later released to parents and guardians, with reports indicating that the lockdown lasted for almost three hours.
Principal Marine Davtyan told families that privacy and confidentiality laws prevented the school from disclosing further details about the pupil or the incident. She said the safety and wellbeing of students and staff remained the district’s priority.
Additional mental health professionals and counselling staff have been made available at the Highland Park school. Investigators are continuing to review witness accounts and video footage, while no arrests or charges have been announced.
