[Strikeout King]

BOONEVILLE, Ky. (WKYT) - An investigation is underway after a heated exchange at a high school basketball game.

It happened Tuesday night at a district tournament game between Estill and Owsley counties.

The Owsley County Sheriff ended up going into the stands to have a fan tossed out of the gym.

Just two weeks ago, WKYT investigated the growing concern about the culture of abusive behavior at high school games.

On Tuesday, Owsley County High School hosted the 56th district tournament and during the Owsley/Estill game, an Estill County fan came down to the Owsley bench.

Security video the school provided to WKYT shows the fan and a few sitting with him escorted out.

There was a second video from that night that was being shared on Facebook, it's since been removed.

In that video, after the initial fans were escorted out, you could see Owsley County Sheriff Brent Lynch go into the stands accompanied by deputies.

Lynch is also an assistant on Owsley County's girls basketball team so he wasn't in uniform.

He told WKYT he announced himself as sheriff and asked some other fans to leave because of the language they were using.

Some Estill County fans have said they didn't know he was the sheriff, and thought a coach was coming into the stands.

Owsley's superintendent tells WKYT he feels like they handled the situation appropriately and gives his coaches credit for keeping the players from geting involved.

He also said they are talking to the school attorney to see if they will press charges against that initial fan for abuse of a school administrator, which is a misdemeanor.

Estill County's superintendent tells WKYT they are also looking into the incident but they would refrain from making any comment since Owsley County was the one hosting the game.

KHSAA Commisioner Julian Tackett says because there were no players involved, the KHSAA would leave it to the schools to investigate.

Estill County plays Powell County Friday night in the boys' 56th district championship game.

The game will be hosted at Owsley County and the superintendent says there will be plenty of law enforcement on hand.

https://www.wkyt.com/content/news/Fans-e...u9t3abK_U8