11-year-old aspiring photojournalist who shot high school football game shaken by player's death



BURIEN, Wash. -- The Highline School District has started its official review of protocol after a football player died this week following Friday’s game.

While the process is under way, witnesses are sharing more about the crucial minutes that unfolded on the field. One of those witnesses is an 11-year-old aspiring journalist who had been photographing the game.

Isabel Herbruger and her mom, Chelle, not only watched the game from the sidelines, the 11-year-old captured some of the last pictures of 17-year-old Kenney Bui alive.

Bui, an Evergreen High School football player, was injured in the game against Highline last Friday night. He suffered an injury and later died.

Isabel was on her second "photo shoot", covering Highline High School's homecoming game against Evergreen for the White Center Blog. However, in the fourth quarter of the game, she noticed something wasn’t right.

“I saw a bunch of people circling around a player, so I started trying to figure out what it was about,” said Herbruger.

The fourth-grader began snapping pictures, including when medics arrived with less than 6 minutes left in the game.

“I kept shooting, and I noticed somebody down on the side, so I kept taking pictures,” said Herbruger.

Herbruger and her mom say the game went on, even as medics treated Bui for a head injury.

The Highline School District  says an athletic trainer initiated the concussion protocol, which we’re told is a series of questions to determine whether to call EMT.

“They loaded him up and they called the game and then they announced, please stay in the stands until the medic could get out,” said Chelle Herbruger.

But many questions still remain, including what triggered the concern in the first place.

Chelle Herbruger said Kenney’s injury didn’t come after a dramatic play on the field, but she knows his death has left a lasting mark on her young daughter.

“She works really hard for her pictures, and for this to be the way she gets recognition, it’s just hard,” said Chelle Herbruger.

The school can’t say yet what caused Kenney Bui’s head injury, whether it was from his last play or perhaps a series a plays. They say all of that information will be part of the review.