UPDATED: Bunch still in critical condition in Lexington hospital; juveniles charged with assault

A local state representative, who serves all of Whitley County and a portion of Laurel County, is in critical condition after suffering a head injury Tuesday morning while trying to break up a fight at Whitley County High School – and two students have been taken into custody and are now facing criminal charges.

Dewayne Bunch, 49, a teacher at Whitley County High School, who also serves as 82nd District State Representative in the Kentucky General Assembly, was trying to separate two male students involved in a scuffle in the cafeteria at the high school Tuesday morning when the injury occurred. When EMS personnel arrived, Bunch was unresponsive and bleeding from his ears.

Bunch was transported to Baptist Regional Medical Center for treatment. Shortly after the incident, Whitley County Schools Superintendent Scott Paul expressed deep concern about Bunch’s injuries.

"It’s not good. It doesn’t look good," Paul said. "This is a bad situation."

Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell said that Bunch was one of three teachers monitoring the cafeteria Tuesday morning when a fight broke out between a 15-year-old male and a 16-year-old male about 7:20 a.m. School officials would not reveal the names of the students. Both have been suspended.

"They were in the process of breaking up a fight between two students here on the school property," Harrell said. "All three of the teachers were struck by the individuals in the course of the fight."

Harrell said that the two freshmen students were fighting over a domestic dispute that apparently had started before they got to school. He said investigators are trying to find out exactly what the fight was over.

When the fight started, Bunch immediately ran over and was "very quick" to get between the two students. He apparently inadvertently stepped into one of the punches, Harrell said.

"We feel like that he was struck by one, maybe both of the students," Harrell said. "We are just going to have to review the film again to see. He was just doing his job."

The whole incident took place very quickly, and lasted less than 30 seconds, Harrell said.

"He went down on an extremely hard floor. You will have to get a doctor’s interpretation as to what caused the major injury," Harrell said.

Bunch had blood coming from his ears and was unconscious when he was taken to the hospital.

Whitley County EMS treated Bunch at the scene, and transported him to Baptist Regional Medical Center. From there, he was transported to the University of Kentucky Medical Center.

Assault charges

Harrell said that the two students will be taken into custody, and charged with first-degree assault, which is a felony offense.
Because the students are juveniles, Harrell said that he couldn’t comment on whether they have a record of violence in the school.

District Judge Cathy Prewitt will decide what juvenile detention facility the teens are incarcerated at, but Harrell said his office has routinely been transporting juveniles to Breathitt County.

"This will be in Whitley Juvenile Court. As far as what their fate is will be determined by the court," he said.

Caught on camera

The fight was caught on a security camera, which was located in the cafeteria.

Harrell said that a review of the video footage indicated the two teens had some type of problem with one another before they got to school, and met at the end of a table where the fight started.

"The school suffers from having domestic situations brought to the school. I think this is what happened. In other words, there was a problem before they got here," Harrell said.

While investigators are lucky enough to have the incident caught on tape, Harrell said they were unlucky because of the location of a pole in the lunchroom that partially obscured the view.

"This is a bizarre thing. Breaking up fights comes with being a schoolteacher. You have some kids, children, getting into scuffles. I have never investigated anything to this magnitude," said Harrell, who has worked in law enforcement for over 40 years.

Harrell said investigators don’t have a head count yet, but he said that a lot of students were in the cafeteria eating breakfast when the fight broke out.

No one else injured

Harrell said that the other two teachers, who broke up the fight, health and biology teacher Branson Lancaster Jr., 63, and chemistry teacher Steven G. Davis, 41, suffered minor injuries, but didn’t require medical treatment.
No other students were injured during the altercation.

Harrell said that the two students, who were fighting, didn’t sustain any injuries that needed medical attention.

Although the students are being charged with assault, Harrell said investigators are treating it as they would a homicide.
"You have to gather the evidence while it is here because it is going to go away. Things are going to change," Harrell said. "It’s not my feeling he is going to be deceased, but this is just what we need to do."

Bunch, a Republican, took office in January after defeating long-time State Rep. Charles Siler in last May’s Primary Election.
A statement released Tuesday by Kentucky House Republican Leader Jeff Hoover expressed support for Bunch and his family.

"On behalf of the Kentucky House Republican Caucus, we want to offer our thoughts and prayers for Rep. Bunch, his family, friends, co-workers, and constituents as we await further word on his condition and the prognosis on his recovery. Dewayne is an outstanding legislator and is passionate about education, not only in his native Whitley County but the entire Commonwealth.

"All we know thus far regarding the details surrounding Rep. Bunch’s injury is what has been reported in the press. While we await more information regarding Rep. Bunch’s condition, we do ask the media to give the Bunch family privacy as they deal with this ongoing situation. We will not be commenting publicly as to any details regarding Dewayne’s situation.  All of us in the House Republican Caucus will continue to pray for Dewayne and his family, and for the physicians and medical personnel treating him that he will make a speedy recovery."

Bunch has taught math and science at Whitley County High School for 16 years. He retired in 2009 as a First Sgt. from the Kentucky National Guard where he served for 23 years.  During that time he served a tour of duty in the Iraq War and was deployed to Germany shortly after the 9-11 attacks.

A district wide moment of silence was held Tuesday morning in all Whitley County schools in honor of Bunch.