A 16-year-old California high school junior is dead after a fight inside a classroom Wednesday morning.

Police said the incident happened just after 11 a.m. at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa when two juniors entered an art class and confronted a 15-year-old freshman student.

The three boys fought, and the teacher and three teacher’s aides quickly broke up the fight, Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan said. But moments later, the younger boy pulled out a knife and began stabbing the two older boys, stabbing one of the three times in the upper body and the other once in the hand.

The freshman fled the scene while the older students went to the nurse’s office. They were met there by officers and emergency personnel, who took them to the hospital, where the more seriously wounded student died.

The other is expected to be OK.

A witness later spotted the freshman hiding in a creek behind St. Eugene’s Cathedral and contacted police, who took him into custody. The boy was unarmed, and investigators are looking for the knife used in the stabbings.

The chief said investigators believe that the three boys had some kind of prior engagement that led to the fight.

“These three students knew each other and had some previous physical altercations,” he said.

Cregan said there are no resource officers in Santa Rosa schools.

No information was provided about any charges.

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[Featured image: Montgomery High School/Google Maps]