Great Bend Police continue to investigate an aggravated battery that left a 22-year-old man in critical condition early on New Year’s Day.

Corbin Kern was found lying in a pool of blood in the Auto Zone parking lot, 2219 10th St., shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday. He was bleeding and unresponsive. Lt. William Browne of the Great Bend Police Department said Kern’s injuries were so extensive that the Great Bend Fire Department Ambulance took him immediately to the city airport to be flown to a Wichita hospital.

Detective Denton Doze said Kern had been beaten with "fists and feet," which police believe were the only weapons used. He was admitted to the surgical intensive care unit of Wesley Medical Center. He was placed on a ventilator and his injuries included bleeding on his brain and several broken bones in his face, including his jaw. He remained in critical condition at last report.

Because of Kern’s condition, police have not been able to interview him. No arrests had been made as of Tuesday afternoon. However, Doze said officers were interviewing a person of interest in the case.

Police were first dispatched to Auto Zone around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, for a report of an unruly subject. At that time officers spoke to Kern, who was upset about a phone call and/or text messages he had received, Doze said. When they were called back at 1:57 a.m., they found Kern, who had then been severely beaten, in the parking lot on the west side of the store.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the GBPD, 793-4120, or Crime Stoppers, 792-1300.