A Los Angeles teacher tried to pull apart two students fighting in class, and minutes later one of them fell four stories into the school quad

A student at Benjamin Franklin High School died after a fall from a four-story building on Wednesday, following a violent confrontation with a classmate. The incident occurred in Highland Park, and the Los Angeles Police Department said the fall was reported around 1 p.m. Classmates identified the student as a senior. Video from the school appears to show the events leading up to his death, according to the New York Post.

In the video, a teacher tries to intervene as a student wearing a black backpack appears to attack another student. The student in the backpack appears to land several punches, knocking the other student to the ground. As the student who was hit gets back up, the other student can be heard telling him to run and using a racial slur. The student then runs through an outdoor hallway several stories up, with the student in the backpack following behind.

Shortly after, the footage appears to show the student who had been punched going over the railing. Witnesses can be heard reacting in shock. He fell into the school’s quad as some students were breaking for lunch, and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Other students watched the whole thing happen

One witness described the scene to Fox, stating, “I hear stuff rumbling, falling, and I look up, and I see kids fighting.” The witness said one student was getting hurt badly before he went over the fourth-floor railing. However, police have not said whether the fall was intentional, as the death investigation is still open.

Principal Marine Davtyan emailed parents on Wednesday to say a medical emergency had put the school into lockdown, adding that student and staff safety remained the top priority. The campus gates stayed closed until law enforcement authorized reopening, and the lockdown lasted nearly three hours as police worked on campus.

Students returned to class on Thursday, and a memorial of candles and flowers has formed outside the gates. “I am devastated by the tragic loss of a Franklin High School student,” Los Angeles City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez said. The principal said counselors and mental health staff would be available for students who wanted to talk.

The Los Angeles Police Department has not released the names or ages of the students involved, and officers said they have found no evidence of foul play. No charges have been announced against the student who appears to throw the punches in the video.