Joseph A. Couch, the man authorities have named as a suspect in a Kentucky highway shooting that left seven people injured, legally purchased the gun used in the incident the morning of the shooting, authorities said Sunday night.
Laurel County Sheriff’s Commander Richard Dalrymple said at Sunday night’s press briefing that Couch purchased about 1,000 rounds of ammunition, most of which have been recovered.
The suspect remains at large despite a massive search in the area of Saturday’s shooting north of London, Kentucky.
The shooting happened around 5:30 p.m. local time Saturday night, authorities said. Officers arriving at the scene initially found that nine vehicles had been hit by gunfire in the northbound and southbound lanes of I-75, Laurel County Sheriff John Root said at a news conference late Saturday night. By Sunday night, that number had grown to 12 vehicles, authorities said.
This image taken and released by the Mount Vernon Fire Department shows traffic stopped on Interstate 75 during an active shooter incident near London, Ky., on September 7, 2024.
Mount Vernon Fire Department/AFP via Getty Images
Root said officers found five people with serious gunshot wounds, including one who had been shot in the face. He said a vehicle contained two people who had been shot.
Laurel County Deputy Sheriff Gilbert Acciardo said Sunday that none of the victims suffered life-threatening injuries and all were in stable condition.
“Due to the severity of the injuries, some of our deputies loaded the injured individuals and transported them to London Hospital,” Root said.
This photo taken from video shows emergency vehicles on an I-75 exit ramp in London, Kentucky, on September 7, 2024.
WTQV
Two other people were injured in a car crash during the shooting, authorities said.
Root said I-75 was immediately closed in both directions, saying at the time deputies didn’t know where the bullets were coming from.
“We couldn’t risk anyone else getting shot,” Root said.
Authorities previously said they found an AR-15 rifle in the woods near the crime scene on Interstate 75, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) north of London, Ky. Couch’s vehicle was also found abandoned in the same area Saturday night, authorities said Sunday afternoon.
Couch was initially named a person of interest in the shooting, but he was upgraded to a suspect Sunday. Root said the decision to name Couch a suspect was based on evidence gathered during the investigation. Asked to elaborate, Root said the recovery of Couch’s gun and vehicle, along with “some information” he couldn’t share, prompted investigators to upgrade Couch to a suspect in the shooting.
The sheriff’s office earlier released a photo of Couch, who is believed to have fled the highway shooting and is still in the area, Root said.
Root said Couch has an address in Woodbine, Kentucky, and the sheriff’s office described him as about 5’10” and 150 pounds.
Dalrymple said Sunday night that the suspect allegedly fired from a ledge about 30 feet down from a cliff near Exit 49. To find the location, Dalrymple said he had to hang from a tree and look down to see the site in order to find the location.
Acciardo had previously described the shooting as a “sniper” and said it was not the result of road rage. He added that investigators do not believe the shooter knew the victims or had contact with them before the shooting.
Up to 60 law enforcement officers searched the area of the shooting until 3 a.m. Sunday before calling off the search for safety reasons, saying it was dark on the highway and describing the terrain where the search was being conducted as very rough.
More than 150 people participated in the search for Couch Sunday, and efforts are expected to resume Monday morning, Root said.
The FBI, the U.S. Marshal’s Service and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting local authorities in the investigation, officials said.
This image taken and released by the Mount Vernon Fire Department shows rescue vehicles on Interstate 75 during an active shooter incident near London, Ky., on September 7, 2024.
Mount Vernon Fire Department
The motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement broadcast on X Saturday that he is monitoring the situation.
In an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Sunday, Christina Dinoto said she was driving with a friend south on I-75 toward Tennessee when the shooting broke out.
“All of a sudden we heard a loud, deafening noise,” Dinoto said. “And my ear, my right ear, started ringing, and we didn’t know what the noise was, but we looked at each other and wondered, was that a gunshot?”
Dinoto said that when she pulled over on the highway in Knoxville, she discovered damage to her vehicle that she suspects was caused by a bullet that may have ricocheted off another car.
The Kentucky shootings came less than a week after six people were injured in a series of shootings on Interstate 5 in Washington state between 8:26 p.m. and 11:01 p.m. local time on Sept. 2, authorities said. A suspect whose vehicle was wanted in connection with several shootings was arrested in the Tacoma area on Sept. 3, police said.
ABC News’ Alex Presha contributed to this report.
