Investigation underway after student dies in fall from balcony at Highland Park high school

See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred

Authorities were investigating the death of a student Wednesday at a Highland Park high school.

The teenager fell from a balcony at Benjamin Franklin High School, police said. The circumstances surrounding the fall were unclear. Officials identified the victim only as a male juvenile.

The incident took place at around 1 p.m. at the school in the 800 block of North Avenue 54, according to a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson. Few details were immediately available about why the student fell, but there is “no evidence of foul play,” LAPD Officer Rosario Cervantes said. The department is leading the investigation.

Students who spoke with KTLA-TV said a fight in a classroom preceded the fatal fall.

The Los Angeles Fire Department transported the student to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Los Angeles School Police also responded to the incident.

Marine Davtyan, a Los Angeles Unified School District spokeswoman, told City News Service the medical emergency required the school to be placed on lockdown.

Former Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, whose district included Highland Park, posted on social media late Wednesday her “deepest condolences to the family and friends of the young student who lost his life at Franklin High School today. The investigation is ongoing. … Please remember that the student and those involved are minors and they need our love and support at this time.”

As videos of the incident circulated online, Carrillo urged, “Please do not share or repost graphic videos of this tragedy.”

California teen killed in shooting at high school football game; suspect in custody Aug. 23, 2026 Young man who apparently jumped from L.A. City Hall remembered as gifted baseball player July 20, 2026 Person found dead on steps of City Hall after jumping from 26th floor, internal memo says July 16, 2026 Show Comments CaliforniaCrime & CourtsBreaking NewsEducation The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.

Iris Kwok is a breaking news reporter at the Los Angeles Times. She was a 2025-26 reporting fellow at The Times and previously covered the environment at Berkeleyside. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley, where she studied political science and music. A lifelong cellist, she has written about classical music for the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Classical Voice. She grew up in the Bay Area and the Sacramento region.

More From the Los Angeles Times Entertainment & Arts

Chapter 2: The Trojan Horse In 2005, there was no bigger show in L.A. than USC football. The players were household names, celebrities crowded the sidelines, and the wins kept piling up — until Texas came to town.

How A Hillside Strangler Nearly Went Free The Hillside Strangler murders terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. The killers were a pair of sadistic cousins. One confessed. The other was set to stand trial—until L.A. prosecutors flinched.

Cheech Marin on Dodging the Vietnam Draft, Born in East LA & Why Chicano Art Is American Art Hosts Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito sit down with Cheech Marin — comedian, actor, filmmaker, and one of the foremost champions of Chicano art in the world — for a conversation that spans Vietnam draft resistance, topless improv theaters in Vancouver, and the birth of an era-defining comedy act.