Police are investigating the murder of a 17-year-old man who died from a stab wound late Tuesday night after he was attacked by knife-wielding assailants in Goleta.

Sheriff’s Dept. spokesman Sgt. Erik Raney said the victim died at Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday from a single stab wound to the chest. He said the stabbing resulted from an altercation at the intersection of Merida Drive and Parejo Drive, close to where Patterson Avenue meets Calle Real in Goleta. Raney said the victim and his friends were approached by several subjects they did not know, and the two groups entered into a brief verbal exchange. One of the subjects then stabbed the victim once in the chest and fled with the rest of the group in an unknown direction.

Raney said the victim was taken to Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital around 9 p.m. in critical condition, where he eventually died from the stab wound.

As of midnight, Raney said there was no new information about the suspects in the homicide investigation. He said the reason for the altercation between the two groups was unknown.

“Detectives are currently investigating it,” Raney said. “It’s all [the information] I have at this time. We’ll have to run with that.”

Raney said the Sheriff’s Dept. is not releasing the victim’s name until next of kin has been notified.