Suspect in I-75 shooting evades arrest for second time in Kentucky as officials urge public to be vigilant

The man suspected of injuring five people over the weekend when he opened fire on Interstate 75 evaded arrest for the second time that night. Many schools in the area closed on Monday as police urged rural Kentucky residents to take safety precautions.

The Laurel County Sheriff's Office has identified 32-year-old Joseph A. Couch as the suspect believed to have fired shots at 12 cars in the northbound and southbound lanes of the interstate on Saturday. Authorities said Sunday evening they believe Couch is still in the remote, heavily wooded area near where his AR-15, ammunition, car and possibly phone were found.

“You need to lock your doors. If you have security cameras, make sure you keep an eye on them at all times, and maybe leave your porch lights on,” Kentucky State Police spokesman Scottie Pennington advised the community at a press conference Sunday evening. “Take your cell phone with you and make sure your phones are charged because you never know when you might need to contact someone or the police.”

Just hours before the shooting, Couch had legally purchased a firearm and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition, sheriff's office officials said.

The shooting occurred on Saturday at around 5:30 p.m. about 14 kilometers north of the city of London in the US state of Kentucky. It appears to have been a “random act of violence,” said Deputy Gilbert Acciardo of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office, according to the Associated Press.

There were no fatalities, Acciardo said Sunday afternoon, but some of the injuries were “very serious”: One victim was shot in the face and another “across the chest.” Some of the victims were “seriously injured” but in stable condition, Acciardo said.

The Kentucky State Police have taken over the manhunt, said Captain Richard Dalrymple of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office on Sunday evening. The FBI office in Louisville is also looking for information about Couch's whereabouts.

The search was suspended Sunday evening and will resume after 8 a.m. Monday morning, Laurel County Sheriff John Root said.

Safety concerns have prompted more than a dozen school districts and local private schools to cancel classes on Monday, including districts in Laurel, Jackson and Clay counties.

Authorities describe Couch, of Woodbine, Kentucky, as a white male, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds. On Sunday afternoon, authorities found an AR-15 in a wooded area off the highway that they believe was used in Saturday's shooting, Acciardo said.

Law enforcement has not yet determined a motive for the attack, Acciardo added. “He was not in a vehicle. No, definitely not road rage behavior,” Acciardo told reporters at an earlier news conference.

Although authorities do not believe the gunman was targeting specific people, the attack appeared to be “planned,” Acciardo said Sunday night. Couch has a minimal criminal history but “nothing of significance” or like Saturday's shooting.

“We want to catch this guy because he shot at cars and showed he was capable of doing it. And that means he's capable of doing it again,” Acciardo said of the suspect.

Search continues through dense forest

As authorities continue to comb the wooded, hilly area, Acciardo said the suspect “could not have chosen a more remote area that would be more difficult for us to search.”

According to Acciardo, between 40 and 50 officials from federal, state and local authorities are involved in the search.

On Saturday, officers discovered a vehicle registered to the suspect with an empty gun case inside on a forest road near Exit 49. The vehicle was “very close to the highway, but not close enough for the suspect to have fired from there,” Acciardo said.

Authorities suspect he ran closer to the highway where they found the gun. They believe he may have other weapons on him. They also found a phone, but the battery was removed. The fact that Couch left his rifle behind could indicate he has other weapons, Acciardo said Sunday night.

“At this point, we do not believe he has any outside help,” Acciardo said. He later noted that it was “extremely likely” that the suspect was using telecommunications in some way. He said how long the suspect could survive in the remote woods would depend on his level of preparedness — which authorities are still unclear about. He added that it was possible that Couch was no longer alive.

Police have advised residents to remain alert, call 911 if they see Couch, and not to approach him.

The search, coordinated by the sheriff's office, resumed Sunday morning with the help of several law enforcement agencies and a drone with infrared heat sensing technology, police said.

“It's very tedious and stressful,” Acciardo said of the search. “We just keep going because that's our job.”

“We have to look behind every tree, because what if he is there?” he said.

Officials are expanding their search parameters as their search progresses, Acciardo said.

Authorities plan to suspend the search overnight but will cordon off the area before resuming in the morning, Acciardo said Sunday evening. “We have to suspend the search at night because it is dangerous if our people are there and maybe come directly into this person,” he said. Officers will remain “in strategic positions to observe” throughout the night.

“It's very possible” that Couch left the area, “but not likely,” Acciardo said, citing information he said was not available to the public.

The chance that Couch could get from the forest to a house was “very slim,” he added.

The gun violence caused chaos in Saturday traffic just days after a mass shooting at a high school in Winder, Georgia – and less than a week after a gunman injured half a dozen people on a Seattle-area highway. President Joe Biden has been briefed on the Kentucky shooting, the White House said Sunday.

The Laurel County public school system announced that classes would be canceled Monday out of an “abundance of caution.”

At the press conference on Sunday evening, London Mayor Randall Weddle said he hoped “people understand that this farce, this act of violence, does not define us as a community.”

“I am a walking miracle,” says shooting victim

What began as a family outing ended with an emergency room visit for one of the shooting victims, 28-year-old Rebecca Puryear.

Puryear, her husband and their four-year-old son had spent the day together in Lexington and were on their way back to their home in Harlan, Kentucky, when they heard gunshots as they approached Exit 49 on I-75.

“It sounded like a tire had blown, so I asked my husband and he said it was gunshots,” Puryear told CNN on Sunday.

“The next thing I know, my ears are ringing. I look over and see that my (passenger) window is broken and there's a bullet hole.”

Puryear drove another mile and a half before stopping in a safer spot. She made sure her husband and son were safe before realizing she had been shot.

“I looked down and saw the blood pouring,” Puryear said. “I had to try to keep myself together because if I had freaked out, they would have freaked out too.”

They called 911, Puryear said, and Laurel County Sheriff's Deputy Bobby Roberts responded while another ambulance was heading to the scene behind her to assist other victims.

“I was fainting and staggering at times, and he told me to get in his patrol car so he could take me to the hospital.”

Puryear said a bullet entered through the passenger window and struck her right arm, pierced her chest and exited through her left arm. She was released from the hospital later Saturday night but will need to undergo surgery.

“We are blessed that I am still alive. I am a walking miracle,” Puryear told CNN. “It still doesn't feel real to me, even though I'm sitting here with gaping wounds.”

Driver describes horrific ordeal

A woman traveling with a friend on Interstate 75 described witnessing the shooting.

“We just kept driving and suddenly it was like a rock flew through my rear window and my ear hurt,” said Christina DiNoto.

It wasn't until about an hour and a half later that DiNoto and her friend learned of the shooting and noticed what looked like scratches on the back of their car.

“My hands are still shaking,” said DiNoto, who added that she feels incredibly lucky.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

CNN's Sarah Dewberry, Sara Smart, Emma Tucker, Jillian Sykes and Nikki Carvajal contributed to this report.

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