The man suspected of open fire on Kentucky highway He sent a text message vowing to “kill a lot of people” less than 30 minutes before shooting and wounding five people on Interstate 75, authorities said in an arrest warrant.
“I’m going to kill a lot of people. I’ll at least try,” Joseph Couch, 32, wrote in the text message, according to the affidavit filed in court. In another text message, Couch wrote, “I’m going to kill myself next,” the affidavit states.
The Lexington Herald-Leader identified the woman Couch sent the text messages to as his ex-wife. The affidavit itself does not describe the relationship between Couch and the woman who received the text messages.
The affidavit, written by Capt. Richard Dalrymple of the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, says that before authorities received the first report of the shooting around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, a Laurel County dispatcher received a call from a woman who told them Couch had sent her the text messages at 5:03 p.m.
In response to that call, police initiated a follow-up on Couch’s cellphone, but the location was not received until 6:53 p.m., the affidavit says, nearly 90 minutes after the highway shooting.
The affidavit, obtained by CBS News, charges Couch with five counts of attempted murder and first-degree assault.
On Sunday, law enforcement searched an area near where Couch’s vehicle was found, overlooking I-75. They found a green military-style duffel bag, ammunition and numerous shell casings, the affidavit states. A short distance away, they found a Colt AR-15 rifle with a sight mounted on the weapon and several additional magazines. The duffel bag had “Couch” written on it in black marker.
The researchers were painting thousands of acres in the rugged, hilly region near London, a small town of about 8,000 people about 75 miles south of Lexington.
Scottie Pennington, a spokesman for the London Post, said police from across the state were being mobilised to help search a remote area about 8 miles north of London. He described the vast search area as a “jungle walk”, with machetes needed to cut through the thickets.
Timothy D. Easley / AP
“We have cliffs, sinkholes, caves,” Pennington said Monday. “We have culverts that go under the highway. We have creeks, rivers and dense brush.”
Authorities have vowed to continue their hunt in the densely wooded area, with local residents worried about where the gunman might reappear.
Laurel County Sheriff’s Office / Handout via Reuters
“We’re not going to give up until we get our hands on him,” Laurel County Sheriff John Root said.
CBS affiliate WKYT-TV in Lexington, Kentucky, said a $15,000 reward has been offered for information leading to Couch’s arrest, with $5,000 from the Kentucky State Police and $10,000 from a private donor.
The victim tells her story
Rebecca Puryear told the Lexington Herald-Leader she was grateful to be alive after being shot in the chest and right arm. She was walking home with her husband and 4-year-old son after a meal at Olive Garden.
Another bullet shattered into fragments as it hit the door of his Toyota Camry, also injuring his left arm.
“I looked at my husband and asked, ‘What was that?’ He said it was gunshots. I said, ‘Oh my God!’” Puryear, 28, told the newspaper.
She was “bleeding white,” but her husband encouraged her to keep driving. She stopped about a mile away and her husband told her to take off her shirt and press it against the wound while he called 911.
Puryear has been released from the hospital but will have surgery at a later date.
“This man wanted to kill, and he almost did,” Puryear said, adding, “In a heartbeat, you couldn’t have been there. I don’t want anybody else’s family to go through that.”
Additional precautions as search continues
Meanwhile, area school districts were closed Monday across a wide swath of southeastern Kentucky as the search for Couch extended into a third day.
Donna Hess, who lives 10 miles from the shooting, supported the decision to close schools.
“I’m worried he’s going to try to hijack the bus and take the kids hostage,” said Hess, who has a first-grader and a kindergartner. “I’m worried about everybody because they don’t know where he is. … We don’t know what he’s capable of right now.”
Rich Brimer / via REUTERS
Couch until recently lived in Woodbine, a small community about 20 miles south of the shooting. An employee at a London gun store, Center Target Firearms, told authorities that Couch had purchased an AR-15 and 1,000 rounds of ammunition hours before the shooting, according to the affidavit.
Joe Arnold, the gun store manager, declined to comment Monday. He said he did not want to interfere with the investigation.
“We would like to see him found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Arnold told The Associated Press.
Focus on Kentucky Gun Laws
Kentucky has few regulations regarding the purchase of firearms and their public carrying. The state’s gun laws “are among the worst in the country,” according to a report by Everytown For Gun Safety, a nonprofit that focuses on gun safety.
In 2019, Kentucky lawmakers repealed a law that required a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The state also does not require a background check at the point of purchase.
Kentucky authorities said Monday that Couch was in the Army Reserve, not the National Guard, as officials had initially indicated. The U.S. Army said in a statement that Couch served from 2013 to 2019 as a combat engineer. He was a private when he left and had not deployed.
Pennington said Monday that military experience does not make Couch a trained survivalist, and that the plan is to wear Couch down.
“How long can you really survive?” Pennington asked. “We hope he goes away.”
Authorities said Couch fired between 20 and 30 shots, hitting 12 vehicles on the highway Saturday.
Christina DiNoto, who witnessed the shooting while driving, said Monday that the search weighs heavily on her mind.
“Knowing that he’s still out there makes me nervous, honestly,” DiNoto said.
