The manhunt continues as authorities search for the gunman suspected of shooting at twelve cars and injuring five people on Exit 49 of Interstate 75 near London, Kentucky.
Interstate 75 was shut down for multiple hours after the Laurel County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched in response to calls concerning a gunshot victim near Exit 49 at around 5:30 pm.
Upon investigating the calls, the officers found nine cars, both North and South bound, with bullet holes in the sides or windows.
Deputy Gilbert Acciardo of the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office described the scene upon their arrival as chaotic. There were multiple false reports of the incident, making it difficult for the authorities to figure out what had actually occurred and who the person of interest may be.
Multiple people were severely injured and rushed to the nearby hospital. No one was killed in the incident and all victims are stable and expected to survive their injuries.
After the victims were moved to the hospital, the authorities, including the London city police and the Kentucky state police, arrived to secure the scene. Traffic was stopped for several hours as they searched the surrounding area.
An abandoned vehicle was also found on a forest service road near Exit 49 on Saturday. Along with the car, an AR-15 rifle and over a thousand rounds of ammunition were found by authorities near the interstate in a wooded area on Sunday.
According to Acciardo, the rifle was found in a location where the attacker could have, “shot down on the interstate.”
The vehicle, a Toyota SUV, was registered to the suspect, Joseph A. Couch of Woodbine, Kentucky. Upon further investigation, it was also found that Couch had bought the firearm and ammunition in London, Kentucky that Saturday morning.
In total Couch had spent $2,914.40 for the Cobalt AR-15, a sight for the weapon and the ammunition according to Captain Richard Dalrymple’s affidavit that was released Monday.
Couch has a military background, according to the Army who said that he served in the Army Reserve as a 12B combat engineer.
The authorities have continued searching for the suspect since the incident and have yet to find any other traces of him in the area.
Master Trooper Scottie Pennington of the Kentucky State Police described the terrain around Exit 49 as “like a jungle.” The heavily wooded area full of underbrush, sinkholes, caves and steep cliffs has made searching for Couch incredibly difficult for all authorities involved.
The authorities have continued to find evidence that further builds the case against Couch including a message he had sent to his ex-wife prior to the shooting declaring, “I’m going to kill a lot of people.”
Warrants for Couch’s arrest have been filed and the suspect has been charged with five accounts of attempted murder and five accounts of first-degree assault.
No other evidence has been found at this time and the authorities continue to search the surrounding area for the suspect himself and any evidence that may lead them to his whereabouts.
“We all hope that he’s still in that area,” Laurel County Sheriff John Root said, “we all hope we got him contained.”
Photo courtesy of PBS News.
