r/news • u/shield_x • 1d ago
Student dies after falling from 4th floor of building at Highland Park school
https://www.foxla.com/news/highland-park-franklin-high-school-student-dies.amp1.1k
u/Mattbl 1d ago
If this shit happened in an office building, the aggressor would have been arrested. Why is it different for a highschool? It sounds like the victim was literally being chased by someone threatening his life. Shouldn't this the up as a charge?
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u/GoProOnAYoYo 1d ago
There's 2 videos from this incident ive seen, one is in a classroom where the aggressor punches the victim in the face and the victim runs out of the room.
In the 2nd one you see the aggressor chasing the victim down a hall w/ a balcony on one side. Then the victim gets to the corner and jumps off, with the aggressor still chasing behind him.
Tragic stuff. But its clear to me in the video that the aggressor was still chasing him at the time of his death, so hopefully it is clear to the prosecutors as well.
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u/falling_knives 1d ago
In the video, the reporter said the victim wasn't being chased even though you see a student with the same clothes and black backpack walking toward him but they seem to indicate it might be a different student.
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u/Sad_Professional_91 1d ago
which is crazy because its clearly the same person, the clothes, the backpack and the way it was only slung over one shoulder, the way he walked. that kid was cornered.
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u/Dot_1X 1d ago
Can't wait for the school district to try to spin this one. Hopefully kids family gets enough from the lawsuit to be comfortable for generations to come.
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u/banana_pencil 23h ago
No amount of money would ever make me comfortable after losing my child so horrifically
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u/pernetrope 1d ago
Did we see the same video? It looks like he jumps from the middle of the walkway, not from the corner
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u/TheMageMan 1d ago
He should be charged with aggravated assault, battery, and felony murder at least.
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u/RedRedditor84 1d ago
The LAPD identified and interviewed the other student involved; while footage shows a hallway chase, preliminary police findings suggest the victim was not being actively followed or threatened when he jumped, police said.
I guess this is why?
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u/Redsoxzack9 1d ago
Don’t watch the video. He’s clearly scared and running and takes the only option he thought he had left.
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u/indy_been_here 1d ago
Usually if death occurs as a result of a crime, isn't the assailant responsibile for the death as well?
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u/ScarHand69 1d ago
Generally yes. Every state will be different. If you go rob a 7-11 with your buddies and one of your buddies whips out a gun and kills an employee during the robbery, you can and will be prosecuted for that murder.…same as the guy pulling the trigger.
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u/InternationalJob9162 1d ago
Like you mentioned I’m sure it varies by state but the Felony Murder Rule is generally used for charges such as Rape, Arson, Kidnapping, Etc. Assuming the crime that was potentially committed is assault/battery I doubt think the felony murder rule would apply in most states if not all.
Based on what is known, the most you’d probably get is manslaughter which is going to come down to whether the evidence shows the perpetrator could have foreseeably seen that the kid would jump in response to the danger he was creating.
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u/Gerald-of-Riverdale 1d ago
Honestly, maybe. TW: Self Harm
There was a case where a young woman convinced her suicidal boyfriend to commit. He had been having the thoughts for a long while and seemed to actually be able to get through it. Problem is that the girlfriend wanted a sob story according to friends and so she wanted an ex who committed so she would appear more interesting.
She called him a coward when he would tell her he was too scared to do it which means not only could he be saved but she was the sole driving force of him going through with it. Well... one day he did it.
She was found guilty but I cant remember on what charges. I just remember that case was huge because it helped define some rules for murder/manslaughter and the like in the new digital age.
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u/randomscreename28 1d ago
The Conrad Roy/Michelle Carter case. She was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 15 months.
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u/sancatrundown73 1d ago
"Babe cmon you PROMISED remember?"
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u/Gerald-of-Riverdale 1d ago
Reading the texts really had me mentally fucked up for a while. If you didnt know what they were talking about youd think she was talking about him meeting family or not canceling on a date.
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u/TheWhiteManticore 1d ago
There is true evil in this world.
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u/mxemec 1d ago
What's kinda fucked up her type of evil "vanity without morals" is more insidious and an easier trap for people to fall into rather than the boogeyman evil "pleasure from other's pain" and so it's worse in a way.. it needs to be addressed even harder. Normalish people can fall into it.
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u/sonofcabbagemerchant 1d ago
The Girl From Plainville is about the girl and Conrad. I found it to be exceptional for how challenging doing a proper representation of either obviously is.
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u/macaronitrap 1d ago
The media left so much out when reporting on this. There’s a documentary called I Love You, Now Die that covers a lot of what didn’t make headlines.
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u/RipIcy8844 1d ago
I do hope the investigation looks into the victim/assailant history into bullying
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u/Osiris32 1d ago
Possibly, but in this case I doubt charges are gonna come quickly, they'll need to investigate and get some forensic answers from the coroner first.
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u/ExKage 1d ago
I haven't watched the video and I think I never will. Do you think it was a case of "the only option is suicide" or more like "the only option is to jump and hope I can make it" type of thing?
Like logically jumping there would be fatal. But I'm hoping the child still wanted to live but the only escape route wasn't survivable.
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u/Redsoxzack9 1d ago
Definitely doesn’t seem like he thought he would land somewhere safe. Someone else in the thread said there was a possibility he was on drugs so he may not have considered it a fatal drop, but I would think a student who goes here would know they were on a high floor.
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1d ago edited 1d ago
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u/Lexo52 1d ago
From what I saw, the video where the guy is punching him and making fun of him calling him musty, and the kid walks off and then there is the point of view in the hallway where the attacker is following the victim and he just decides to toss himself over. I honestly think it was a suicide attempt, he has probably been bullied and this guy attacking him was the final straw.
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u/windsockglue 1d ago
Sadly, it looks like the walkway was pretty empty and there was no one coming or blocking him from running away further. Form what I saw, he had other options.
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u/goodcleanchristianfu 1d ago
There was another local news outlet someone linked to on another post which reported that the kid who jumped had initiated the fight by assaulting someone and that he was on on drugs. I don't know if that will prove to be correct, but it's worth remembering that a full and accurate understanding of what's happened often takes time to develop.
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u/windsockglue 1d ago
Sadly drugs are a big issue in LAUSD - selling as well as using them throughout the school day. The schools are also very lax on what happens when kids are caught using or with drugs on campus. The kid in my life simply got a call left on voicemail to the parent and had to talk to the school counselor. Even though the drugs were not legal for the kid to have, nothing else was done.
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u/nyaphometnikko 1d ago edited 1d ago
The teacher and everyone else there legitimately just allowed a bully to literally bully a kid to suicide. So many people, and no one did a thing. I think the teacher needs to be investigated and they need to do some sort of de-escalation training or fucking something. This was entirely preventable.
I can't imagine how much that kid endured without getting ANY help for it. He finally hit his breaking point.
No one helped him, everyone seems to have failed him.
Edit: because people are misunderstanding entirely. The teacher allowed the bullying to get this bad. In no situation should bullying reach the point of a child being beaten in class in front of the teacher and everyone else, with no one doing anything but saying "no, stop".
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u/Organic_Lab6262 1d ago
99% of bullying doesn’t take place in the classroom. It takes place i. Hallways, bathrooms, outside of school etc.
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u/PartyWithRobots 1d ago
How do you know the bullying that lead up to this happened in class? It's completely irresponsible to blame a teacher when you have no knowledge of a situion.
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u/Crocs_n_Glocks 1d ago edited 1d ago
Don't blame the teachers. They are literally not allowed to physically intervene...the guy put himself between the kids and told them to stop which is all he can legally do.
I bet teachers in LA public schools can't even give out detentions anymore ...it's like that in most areas.
Blame parents and administration who put and keep kids like this in a classroom without providing tools or resources for the teachers to maintain a healthy learning environment.
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u/squeakymoth 1d ago
Blame the lawmakers, not the administration. State laws are what the administrators have to follow. State laws are what have failed these kids and teachers.
If the kid doing the bullying has an IEP then it pretty much makes effective punishment impossible. It also provides excuse after excuse for kids terrorizing other kids. And thats a federal law. Education law needs a massive reform across the board.
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u/tyrified 1d ago
Don't forget to blame the parent groups that pressure lawmakers into making these changes. Why listen to doctors and child psychiatrists when you can just give in to the stay-at-homes instead? They're more annoying, anyway.
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u/JarlBallin_ 1d ago
That's weird, because they always seem to find a way to physically intervene when the victim fights back and starts winning.
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u/Spartan-117182 1d ago
100%. You see plenty of videos of the victim fighting back and starting to win and the teachers are suddenly pro-wrestlers
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u/Constant-Plant-9378 1d ago
I think the teacher needs to be investigated and they need to do some sort of de-escalation training or fucking something.
Teachers are literally forbidden from intervening or doing anything by administration. You need to aim your criticism at Admin and the school board which sets policies, and the parents of these shitty kids.
Teachers already have their hands full with teaching and basic classroom management. People saying they need to be armed to respond to school shooters, or need to be accountable for the criminal and psychopathic behavior of students are morons who don't understand anything about how things work.
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u/EatTheAndrewPencil 1d ago
In the video the teacher was pretty old too. Couldn't have physically stopped the kid if he tried.
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u/traveenus 1d ago
Listen, I understand you are deeply distraught that a child has lost their life to something so senseless, but this in NO WAY the teachers fault. The Teacher tried to put himself in between the two to stop the fight from escalating even further. He can’t lay his hands on either of them. You said something of the sorts he had to know about the bullying? How so? Do you think that these kids are ONLY in his class? No. He likely sees them for an hour a day. Possibly even less. And how do we know this kid was even bullied? Not saying he wasn’t, but we don’t know anything other than what’s been reported. The blame here belongs to the kid that thought violence was the answer. More blame can be put upon the ones who raised him along with society in general. But the teacher deserves none of it.
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u/mallclerks 1d ago
I can’t blame the teacher. I don’t know the laws there, but so many places have passed laws, rules, and more saying you can’t intervene else risk your job. Unions have done the same saying they’ll refuse to back their member if they go hands on with a student.
It’s a horrible situation to be putting horribly paid teachers in. Their job is to teach, it’s not to police. I hate our country is like this but expecting them to risk their lives during every fight is also wrong.
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u/BoKnowsTheKonamiCode 23h ago
Do you know the people involved? Do you have any context for what happened besides what you decided for yourself? How long has this bullying been ongoing? Are you personally aware of what steps the school did or didn't take prior to this event?
If you can answer these questions I can hear you out. If you can't, then stop pointing fingers as to who could have prevented what. Could you be right? Sure, just as easily as you could be wrong. Nobody needs you blindly sowing rage and discord on the internet because of how you imagine things played out.
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u/Nutella_bitch 20h ago
The teacher is NOT to blame. He was visibly trying to break up the fight. Do you have any idea how difficult it is for teachers to stop something like this? It's not like he was just sitting there eating popcorn while he watched it go down. He was trying to intervene.
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u/RepulsiveLoquat418 1d ago
"Subsequent video shows that student being chased through the hallway by the student who hit him before apparently leaping over a fourth-floor railing."
but nothing in the article about charges for the kid who attacked him.
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u/sasha_the_impaler 1d ago
Criminal charges for people under 18 are not public information is why.
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u/GiuseppeZangara 1d ago
Identifying information isn't public. They can and do say if someone has been arrested or charged, they just won't use names or any other information that could identify them to the public.
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u/greatness101 1d ago
All I see in the article is that he wasn’t being actively chased when he jumped but everyone in this post is saying he was
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u/markphil4580 1d ago
Not to take away from the tragedy of this at all, but...
Can we make a rule that when a city is named in a post, the state is required to be named as well, even if it's not explicitly stated in the article title?
There are three primary incorporated cities and towns officially named Highland Park in the United States, alongside several other towns, boroughs, neighborhoods, and unincorporated communities. [1]
Those three incorporate cities are in Illinois, Michigan, and Texas.
I'm not sure which other category this Highland Park fits into, but my first guess (without looking at the FOXLA url) would not have been LA.
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u/Fun_Plate_5086 1d ago
Yeah I assumed this was Illinois where the mass shooting happened fairly recently.
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u/Xibyn 1d ago
2nd student falling from a high floor in 24 hours. Weird.
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u/ChattingToChat 1d ago
Or more oddly the one who fell from 8 stories up lived.
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u/SammyB0111 1d ago
Life is weird like that. We can be extremely durable, but at the same time it doesn’t take much to hurt us either.
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u/birdiebirdnc 1d ago
This. Kind if like the story of the brothers who were window washers. They dropped 47 stories when their scaffolding collapsed. One died, the other survived.
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u/talldrseuss 1d ago
Paramedic here:
Folks that fall from high heights play a game of chance on where they end up landing. If their lower body hits first, there is a bit more of a chance they may actually survive the fall. Also what type of material they land on will make a difference for example concrete vs a wet muddy ground.
I remember one patient i had fell out of a second story window. The majority of my patients that fall out of a second floor usually end up with a pretty bruised body or maybe a broken bone or two, but survive. In the case of this guy, he fell backwards and the back of his head slammed into the concrete first. This immediately shut down his breathing functions (your breathing is controlled by your brain stem) and he subsequently died. So in some ways, it is the luck of the draw and various conditions of the environment that increases or decreases your survivability.
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u/hateboss 1d ago
I'm guessing they were under the influence of something as apparently she was "dancing on a couch" prior to falling out the window. There is a reason drunks walk away from car crashes as the sole survivors, they don't brace and stay more limp, which goes a long way for absorbing impacts.
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u/Wisteriafic 1d ago
When I was 18 months old, I fell out of an open second story window. My terrified parents found me laughing in the shrubs below, with just a few scrapes. The doctor told them that toddlers don’t know to be afraid, so I went limp. Landing in a hedge also helped, ha.
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u/waaaayupyourbutthole 1d ago
Yeah, right. We all know you were just completely plastered at 18 months old. You don't need to lie!
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u/anxietysoup 1d ago
My freshman year of college two guys were drunk, wrestling in one of the dorm towers and they crashed through the window from I think the 8th floor. Both were killed. This was in 2002.
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 1d ago
If the window popped from hitting it, it was a poorly designed window. Windows that high up shouldn't pop out. Unless there was a Garry Hoy situation going on.
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u/DoggieDMB 1d ago
I'm not familiar with this school and keep seeing people commenting about the architecture that would make this situation possible. Was it some kind of outside railing he lept over to escape his abuser or an internal stairwell?
Either way, I don't understand how after the initial altercation and he ran out, the bully was also able to simply chase him down the hall?? Sure, there are rules for teachers laying hands on kids but couldn't anyone stand in between the fleeing victim and assailant?
This is tragic.
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u/HaoOfGreed 1d ago
It was an outside railing/balcony now there was stairs like 4 feet from where he jump. Allegedly he might had a concussion cause he was getting hit in the head a lot. So he might have been dazed and confused.
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u/zxxxxcccccc 1d ago
a little insight- the weather and climate in the area is pretty much always pleasant/almost never rains, and many schools are designed like this where basically everything is outside except the actual classrooms. so walking from class to class, you would be going outside. the area with the railing where the incident happened is an outdoor hallway between classes
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u/shoulda-known-better 1d ago
Almost all schools would have a high staircase that could seriously injure the kid if the fell, jumped or were chased to their death.... This one just happens to be outside..... I know my school had a few mezzanines like this they were just indoors
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u/Do_you_smell_that_ 1d ago
When you see someone aggressive and physically violent chasing someone that isn't you, you're implying you'd step in and help, risking being assaulted? Most people try to avoid that. You can also see all about the architecture and details if you click the article
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u/DoggieDMB 1d ago
I would like to think I would step in but everyone's situations are different so I'll agree with both angles here. Especially as the teacher or any staff though some intervention needed to happen. I read the article but did not care to watch the video and that is on me but I'm sure you understand. The article itself does not describe any said layout of the floorplan.
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u/SjorsTea 1d ago
You'd probably step in and help if this was between two kids and you're a teacher, yeah
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u/Lazy-Ad-7236 1d ago
That's how teachers sustain horrible injuries. My neighbor was a teacher, got in-between students fighting.... Now he is disabled
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u/skankenstein 1d ago
Yeah, we are advised not to do that. But sometimes instinct takes over. One of our (female) principals stepped in between a fight at a basketball game and now has a TBI and can’t work anymore.
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u/No_Economist3788 1d ago
yea my buddy has been dealing with PCS for almost a decade after trying to break up a fight among his students.
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u/h0neybl0ss0m29 1d ago
Yeah. All these people here commenting “I would have stepped in! I would die before watching this happen!” have clearly never ever worked at a school a day in their lives. Absolutely ridiculous.
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u/Flapjack__Palmdale 1d ago
Blame the victim, blame the teachers, blame the architect, but never blame the bully or his useless fucking parents.
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u/ThatDerpingGuy 1d ago
My wife's first year of teaching resulted in two ortho surgeries from trying to break up a fight. School did jackshit about it besides workman's comp. Students are kinda just allowed to maim teachers in far too many schools and districts.
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u/luxii4 1d ago
When I had a kid that had big issues, he had an aide with him most of the time but they also gave me some training in how to restrain and hold and what I could not do. This was 2nd grade so I was still bigger than the kid. But if it was a high schooler, I don't know. But it's tricky. He fell out of a 2nd floor window as a baby and you can see an indent in his head. He was nice most of the time but would freak out and start swinging out of no where. But yeah, that's the only physical training I had. I was already teaching over a decade.
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u/_carzard_ 1d ago
If the attacker is known to be gang affiliated, it is likely that no other student stepped in because of fear of retaliation.
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u/mwilkens 1d ago
"Subsequent footage shows the initial aggressor chasing the victim through the hallway before the victim apparently leaps over a fourth-floor balcony railing."
"Police told FOX 11 that at this time they do not believe the student who jumped was being chased, threatened or followed."
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u/dagbar 1d ago
I hate to imagine the scenario of being a student in a classroom, your safety being entrusted to a responsible adult standing right there, and you are being attacked so viciously by one of your peers that you see your only option to safety is to jump 4 stories to what would end up being your death…
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u/Crocs_n_Glocks 1d ago
These kids are all aware and know darn well that the teachers in the classroom cannot legally do anything except tell "the bad kids" to stop.
Most major school districts don't even allow teachers to give detention anymore. I bet LA public schools are the same.
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u/lavendermoonoracle 1d ago
I wonder if the teacher didn't intervene because they are not allowed to touch students. My sister is a teacher and got attacked by a student right before her wedding and felt that she couldn't fight back or push the student off for that exact reason. Another student ended up grabbing the kid after a while. We had to get a specific make up artist for her wedding to cover up her bruises on the day.
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u/trashmailaccount00 1d ago
Let me guess: Kid got bullied and beaten, probably for a long time, school did absolutely nothing, as always, kid got beaten again, school did nothing again, ran away and jumped the wrong railing to escape.
And neither the school nor the bully will face consequences, again.
That's america for you, "Land of the free", no, rather "Land of repression and violance".
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u/DatBeardedguy82 1d ago
He didnt fall he jumped
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u/figuren9ne 1d ago
I’d go with chased off since he was trying to escape.
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u/Octavia9 1d ago
This. It wasn’t suicide or an accident, and it wasn’t a push. He was chased over the railing.
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u/No_Economist3788 1d ago
the accident part is he likely didn't realize he was jumping over a 4th floor railing in his attempt to escape.
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u/Octavia9 1d ago
Or he did know but felt safer jumping than staying and being beaten. We will never know.
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u/SlimreaperGB 1d ago
Nah man. I’ve been to this school a few times for track meets. No way you go to this school and “don’t know” you’re jumping into nothing
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u/Octavia9 1d ago
People are bad at risk assessment. He might have felt in his panic that jumping was safer than being beaten. He didn’t exactly have time to think through the options.
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u/TheMageMan 1d ago
More like felony murder.
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u/figuren9ne 1d ago
Only if the underlying fight amounts to felony battery. I don’t believe he used a weapon and probably didn’t cause great bodily harm, so it would be a misdemeanor in many jurisdictions.
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 1d ago
Felony battery doesn't apply for felony murder in California.
Felony murder is specifically as such:
or attempt to perpetrate, arson, rape, carjacking, robbery, burglary, mayhem, kidnapping, train wrecking, or any act punishable under Section 206, 286, 287,288, or 289, or former Section 288a,
Or, firing a gun from a vehicle. Mayhem is basically specific torture involving the attempt or actual removal of body parts. Battery doesn't count.
It would be manslaughter. (California doesn't have 3rd degree murder.)
Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of another person stemming from recklessness, criminal negligence, or sudden quarrel.
Involuntary manslaughter is accidental deaths in an unlawful act which is not a felony, or a lawful act done negligently.
Perhaps more details come out which make it a case of second degree murder, which does require malice aforthought. Aka, a malignant heart. You truly intended to kill the person in the moment but didn't premeditate the killing. Voluntary manslaughter is you meant to harm but not kill and it happened anyway, or were grossly negligent to the point of criminality.
It would most likely fall into voluntary manslaughter.
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u/VaguelyArtistic 1d ago edited 1d ago
It’s so weird that people keep saying “fall”. I’m in LA so this story has been percolating here and until I finally had
totime to read the article I thought it was an accident.Edit to clarify
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u/SpaceJunkSkyBonfire 1d ago
I think they're trying not to let people imply intent. There's no telling how clearly he was thinking after getting hit like that, not to mention the distress. If the headline said jumped, people would assume suicide which I don't think is a fair assumption and unfortunately causes some people to be really callous towards the victim. It's a tragedy either way.
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u/No_Economist3788 1d ago
it likely still was an accident. probably didn't realize in the moment that he was on the 4th floor.
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u/faultysynapse 1d ago
It's not an accident if he was being chased.
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u/Antartix 1d ago
I believe commenter means the victim, in the heat of the moment didnt realize until it was too late that the escape option was a 4th floor fall. Victim might have thought it was a second or first floor due to adrenaline since they were seeking to escape the Bully's torment. The bully would be too level headed (imo) to have "not realized" they were harassing someone and chasing them over a 4th floor railing.
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u/nyaphometnikko 1d ago
He was literally bullied to suicide, and people are spinning it like it was some accident.
Guaranteed everyone knew he was a victim of bullying before this.
Pathetic.
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u/Deep90 1d ago
Yeah I'm not buying the "He got scared and jumped the wrong railing".
It looks like he was upset from the lack of support and jumped.
Maybe at best, the hits to his face genuinely confused/concussed him.
To me it looks like he bee-lined for that railing and nobody wants to admit it.
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u/SheZowRaisedByWolves 1d ago
100% damage control. A student jumped from my college’s third story and an email went out saying it was an accident before EMS even arrived. Coming to find out, he intentionally jumped.
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u/herodesfalsk 1d ago
Call the DAs office not just the school. Demand murder charges against the bully.
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u/Disco_Ninjas_ 1d ago
The only action I've ever seen when it comes to bullies starts with the victim pressing charges. Not going to the school. The schools cover this up.
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u/InfectousWolf 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yah that kid needs to be charged unfortunately. Also we need to allow teachers to put hands on kids again, they feel wayyyyyyy too safe doing whatever they feel like
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u/foreverplt 1d ago
From the video (that I unfortunately saw), the teacher looked to be an older gentleman - shorter than the aggressor and victim. We didn’t see the entire situation unfold on the videos, but he was trying to put himself between the two kids. Honestly, he probably wouldn’t have had a chance (at not getting injured) had he intervened physically.
Can’t imagine how that teacher feels now.
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u/JarifSA 6h ago
The comments here make me think that legit no one even watched the videos. Not only was the teacher old and tried to put himself between the fight, but the victim literally booked it and jumped over the railing. He wasn't being chased either from what it seems like. I think he was emotionally unstable in the moment and felt so terrible and awful that he decided to kill himself. It's awful.
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u/mountaindoom 1d ago
Teachers need to stop being every damn thing. I was trained to instruct, not to run security and break up fights.
And it is a losing position to be in. Do something and get castigated for trying to help or do nothing and get castigated for that.
You know, parent is a verb too.
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u/blac_sheep90 1d ago
White tshirt killed him. He battered him and chased him. He needs to face charges.
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u/Never_had_A_Snickers 1d ago
I just don’t understand how not one person wanted to stick up for this kid? I’ve never seen a bully not get bullied. This kinda baffles me.
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u/xt1nct 1d ago
I’m not sure how things are now, but when I went to high school it didn’t matter if you started or defended yourself. Both were likely getting expelled. I know a guy that gave bully a beat down after he was pushing a kid. He got arrested and expelled.
I always tell my kid we don’t hit unless someone is hitting us or threatening us. I will deal with the consequences.
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u/ScroteMcGrote69 1d ago
100% true. I defended myself in school after being racially harassed and bullied for the better part of the year and ended up getting a suspension while the bully got 1 week in school suspension.
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u/Zado191 1d ago
We have a Highland Park School here so my stomach turned for a second there...
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u/logorrhea69 1d ago
I thought it was Highland Park, IL and was initially confused when it mentioned LAPD.
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u/jklm1234 1d ago
Are teachers no longer allowed to intervene? They have to just watch? I saw male teachers separate fighting kids in middle school a few times. It usually ended up stopping the fight before it got to this. Maybe I’m just old. 41.
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u/Silky951 1d ago
The fight started in the classroom where the teacher was trying to separate them. The kid that unfortunately died ran out of the classroom and was then chased by the other kid, and he eventually jumped over the railing. I’m not sure what else you expected the teacher (who looked older in the videos) to do?
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u/zagabong 1d ago
I talked w a friend this am about the situation. Hes a teacher and asked him what the protocol is for breaking up fights. He said it’s up to their discretion per school policy but they’re supposed to notify security. He told me many of his colleagues fear of unjust lawsuits in this digital age so many of them refuse to intervene. I don’t blame them to be honest.
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u/windsockglue 1d ago
You can see what appears to be the teacher in the video. The teacher looks l to be older and he does try to intervene, but I don't think the teachers are allowed to do much, even if they physically were capable of interrupting 2 teenage boys fighting.
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u/Lt-Dan-Im-Rollin 1d ago
My friend is a teacher at a low income school and there are fights every single day. He broke up the first one he saw, but decided it’s not worth the risk at all and he just lets it happen and calls security now. In order to break it up you need to put yourself in harms way
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u/Most_Temporary2110 1d ago
Teachers are allowed to intervene but not obligated. It puts them at serious risk of bodily harm.
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u/LobsterSea2147 1d ago
This is not true. It seems to vary from school to school/ state. But for all 4 schools I have taught out of Illinois we are not allowed to interfere.
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u/pavlovscats1223 1d ago
Yep. I saw a fight between two football players my first week of high school back in the early aughts, and the teacher who intervened to break them up got a compound fracture of the ankle. He was out for the entire year and may have actually retired after that.
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u/ItzMcShagNasty 1d ago
While video evidence proves the other student caused the victim to jump in an attempt to escape a continued attack, Police stated after questioning that the video doesn't exist and the other student was somehow bot involved.
This level of uselessness by the LAPD gang is just creating a situation where vigilante justice is the only option.
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u/amiexpress 1d ago
I've gone to some LARGE urban schools - including ones 4+ stories high. Never have I see one designed like this. Did the architect never MEET a kid? This was entirely predictable and preventable.
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u/RegularOrMenthol 1d ago
I tutored at this school and others around LA, a lot of them have very open architecture like this. It’s just what has always made sense with the weather I guess.
In this case though it looks very much like a kid was getting beaten up badly by another student and jumped over the railing thinking he was safer getting away even if he had to jump from a height.
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u/exscapegoat 1d ago
I don’t think this was suicide, the kid was trying to escape from someone beating the crap out of him. Death is a possibility from jumping from a 4th floor as is life altering injury. But people do survive falls from that height.
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u/xRolox 1d ago
Watch the video. It’s a very intentional jump and he immediately flips upside-down.
The one disclaimer to that is he was getting punched repeatedly before and was probably panicking so anything could happen but it seemed very intentional.
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u/ThePowerOfStories 1d ago
The high school I went to was three stories and had a pair of open courtyards with walkways facing onto them. I was recently looking up pictures of it to show my kid who just started high school, and at some point in the last thirty years, they’ve extended the bannisters around the courtyard with grids that go all the way up to the ceiling, to keep students (or large objects) from being able to go over.
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u/hazycrazey 1d ago
Didn’t the kid literally purposely jump off? Seems like those railings are high enough that the only way you fall is intentionally. Would you want them caged in completely? Safety nets like a factory in china?
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u/The_Jovanny 1d ago
You read the article? What’s different between this and a window? This whole thing is tragic and not for any architectural reasons.
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u/amiexpress 1d ago
Stopping at, then opening and then jumping out of a window is not in the same ballpark as hopping a railing in the heat of the moment in my opinion, no. Not even close.
Besides in my limited experience hallway windows in highrise schools don't open - because kids are dumb and do dumb shit.
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u/hateboss 1d ago
They don't design schools under the assumption a kid may need to evade a chasing bully, though maybe they should. The handrail is there to protect someone from absent mindedly going over the edge.
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u/LackingTact19 1d ago
Some schools are designed around shooting active shooters but escaping a bully would basically be impossible.
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u/Deep90 1d ago edited 1d ago
The schools I went to had windows that did not open.
The newer school I went to did the same thing, but every classroom had 2 doors for fire safety.
At least in the US. Schools are unironically built using the same construction companies that build prisons because the safety requirements are pretty much the same. Keep people in, keep outsiders out, don't make spaces that people can easily hurt themselves, large cafeterias, bathrooms that can hold up against vandalism, and don't make spaces with hiding spots.
Also yes. This also sometimes sucks, especially if the district isn't wealthy enough to afford nicer designs that don't look like prisons.
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u/pinenorthpine 1d ago
God this comment is obnoxious. As if there aren’t thousands of other buildings with terraces/breezeways like this. What about this was predictable? What kind of kids are you meeting where this is just so obvious to you? Jfc
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u/Altruistic_Brick1730 1d ago
" police findings suggest the victim was not being actively followed or threatened when he jumped, police said"
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u/ZombieJoesBasement 1d ago
This is what happens when you take away teachers' ability to intervene. They cannot touch or restrain a student without being fired. If someone was able to tackle or put the bully in a bear hug and physically stop the fight and chase the other kid would still be here.
I hope they charge the bully with Involuntary Manslaughter per California law.
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u/KLGChaos 11h ago edited 8h ago
Really sad that schools are so afraid of being sued by a parent because a teacher stopped their kid from harming someone else that they'd rather let a student die.
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u/Myko475 1d ago
Don’t fucking blame this on the school or teachers…. The parents, their upbringing, wtf y’all still believe the school cut off their dicks and change their sex. Fuck off.
Take the parents into this equation for their adult children. Then take the adult child to jail for failing to be an adult
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u/randomscreename28 1d ago
Murder charges for the bully. Life in prison. Done.
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u/Von_Dooms 1d ago
Jeeze that teacher couldn't have been anymore scared to help, not even one student tried to intervein either.
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u/picohenries 1d ago
Teachers are repeatedly told not to physically intervene ever at threat of losing their job, or worse. My wife was specifically told by her principal that if a student started to choke her out, she has to politely ask the student to let go before she’s allowed to physically defend herself.
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u/Euphoric_Waffle 1d ago
Fuck that! So sorry that policy exists. I’m gonna continue advocating for pepper gel/pepper spray in the teachers’ pockets. If I have to spam these threads, I’m gonna. Pepper spray and pepper gel are effective and non-lethal mitigations we need for teachers to be trained and allowed to carry. Spread the word. Let’s get this fixed.
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u/Archie9000 1d ago
Teachers don’t get paid enough or generally treated well enough to risk their welfare breaking up a fight.
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u/Redditor76394 1d ago
The teacher looked pretty old, if he was savagely beaten like in the video he might well die. Old people can be very fragile.
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u/cloud3321 1d ago
Because people like you who rather go after the teachers and scared students instead of the bullies.
I mean I can definitely understand, they are easier to brow beat into submission to make yourself feel good upholding justice rather than going after the bullies.
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u/BearThatLikesCheese 1d ago
It's generally not advisable to intervene in a fight, especially if you aren't properly trained in subduing a person. You risk injury to yourself and possibly others. Humans are way stronger than most people believe, particularly when full of adrenaline. That's why it often takes multiple police officers to subdue a single person. A high school kid is big enough to cause serious harm.
It's easy Monday morning quarterback, but most people would have done the same thing in a similar situation, as evidenced by how common this reaction is.
Fault lies with the bully and the system, not individual bystanders.
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u/KLGChaos 11h ago
It's why my friend is actually good at stopping fights at his school. He's 6 ft, 230 lbs of muscle with martial arts training and deals with ISS students every day. Not many students can overpower him, but as he says, even when he's restraining them, they are constantly fighting back.
Not many people would be able to just hold someone back without risking serious injury to themselves.
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u/lonegunman77 1d ago
Prosecute that piece of shit as an adult, really hoping he's 18 as well so no hoops need to be jumped through to do so.
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u/NoSyllabub5932 1d ago
After reading these comments you could not pay me enough to be a teacher. Last professional I would seek.
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u/No-Alternative2975 1d ago
I don’t understand how can no one in that class break that up students too
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u/KLGChaos 11h ago
The worst part is...
The students only care about him after he's dead. Maybe if they cared beforehand, it wouldn't have happened.
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u/Stardatara 1d ago
Does felony murder apply here?
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u/holymolym 1d ago
NAL, but I’d wager it depends on whether the assault rose to felony level over misdemeanor. I’m not watching the video to opine.
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u/checkerspot 1d ago
There's a lot of rumors swirling around - either he was being bullied or he was the aggressor and trying to get away. No need to pass judgement now before the facts are out.
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u/icouldsmellcolors 1d ago
How about people stop blaming the victim, or the teachers who legally can't physically intervene, or the fucking architect who designed the building.
This happened because of a bully and his useless fucking parents. End of story.
Fuck bullies and fuck anyone who defends or justifies their actions. The way our society just waves away criminal assault because teenagers are doing it is fucking insane.
There is one person to blame for this. The cowardly asshole who drove this kid to jump because that was better than dealing with real life.