Police are now searching for multiple suspects in a stabbing that turned fatal Tuesday afternoon.
The stabbing happened at about 2 p.m. in the 1000 block of Center Avenue, near Oceanside High School, according to the Oceanside Police Department.
Officers responded to the stabbing and a 16-year-old male injured. Medics responded, and transported him to the hospital via helicopter.
Police initiated a lockdown at Oceanside High School for about 40 minutes, according to Steve Lumbar with the Oceanside Unified School District. The stabbing occurred while school was still in session.
The teen later died in the hospital due to the trauma to his chest, according to police.
Lumbar did not know if the teen was an Oceanside High School student. His identity is still being processed by the coroner.
Initially, authorities listed one suspect in the case. On Friday, they announced that five to six additional juveniles or young adults were also possibly involved. The suspects were last seen running from the crime scene southbound onto Horne Street.
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There are no suspect descriptions at this time. Police believe the stabbing may be gang-related.
Lumbar said though the district does not have the ability to add more staff to patrol the area in light of recent crime, staff will be on high alert for suspicious activity. Even in this case, a staff member at the school called 911 after seeing a group of kids running from where the stabbing occurred.
The area has seen a number of high-profile violent crimes over the past several months. Lt. Leonard Mata with the Oceanside Police Department said of all eight homicides in the area last year, four were gang-related.
In November, just a few blocks from where police said the stabbing Tuesday occurred, officers arrested Frederick Hengl, 68, after the discovery of his wife's body in the couple's N. Ditmar Street home. Officers reported finding the dismembered remains of 73-year-old Anna Faris cooking in pans in the couple's kitchen.
Later that month, residents Inez Martinez Garcia, 43, and husband Marcial Garcia Hernandez, 45, were arrested and accused of allegedly abusing a young girl who had been smuggled into the U.S.
Then, earlier this month, an Oceanside man was found with a gunshot wound inside an apartment about a block away from Tuesday's stabbing.
A resident told NBC 7 in a previous article that the area is known for gang activity adding that there have been five shootings on the street since November 1. A crime report shows that in that period of time, Oceanside Police have reported 12 assaults in Oceanside.
A cluster of assaults were reported near the high school. The map below uses the red icon to show where assaults happened:
Source: Oceanside Police Department
Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to contact Detective Tyrone Dunn at 760 435-4054.
