Man accused of shooting five people on highway vowed to 'kill a lot of people', according to arrest warrant | News, Sports, Jobs

Kentucky State Police Press Secretary Master Sergeant Scottie Pennington addresses the media to provide an update on efforts to locate the suspect in the shooting on I-75 at the Livingston Ky. exit at the Laurel County Sheriff's Office in London, Ky., Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

LONDON, Ky. (AP) — The man suspected of opening fire on a Kentucky highway sent a text message promising “kill many people” less than 30 minutes before he shot and injured five people on Interstate 75, authorities said in an arrest warrant.

“I'm going to kill a lot of people. Well, at least I'm trying.” Joseph Couch, 32, wrote in the text message, according to the affidavit filed in court. In a separate text message, Couch wrote: “I’m going to kill myself after this” says the affidavit.

The Lexington Herald-Leader identified the woman Couch sent the text messages to as his ex-wife. The affidavit does not describe the relationship between Couch and the woman who received the text messages.

The affidavit from Captain Richard Dalrymple of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office states that before authorities received the first report of the shooting at around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, a telephone dispatcher in Laurel County 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 tracking function on Couch's cellphone, but the location was not transmitted until 6:53 p.m., the affidavit states, nearly 90 minutes after the highway shooting.

According to the affidavit obtained by The Associated Press, Couch is charged with five counts of attempted murder and first-degree assault.

On Sunday, law enforcement officers searched an area near where Couch's vehicle was found, overlooking I-75. There they found a green army-style duffel bag, ammunition and numerous shell casings, the affidavit states. A short distance away, they found a Colt AR-15 rifle with a scope mounted on the weapon and several extra magazines. The duffel bag had “Couch” handwritten with black marker.

Search crews have combed thousands of acres of rugged hills near London, a small town of about 8,000 residents about 75 miles south of Lexington.

Scottie Pennington, a spokesman for the London Post, said police officers from across the state are being dispatched to assist in the search, which is focused on a remote area about 8 miles north of London. He described the extensive search area as “Walk through the jungle” with machetes, which are necessary for cutting through thickets.

“We have rock beds. We have sinkholes. We have caves.” Pennington said Monday. “We have culverts that run under the highway. We have streams and rivers and dense bushland.”

Authorities said they would continue their relentless pursuit in the dense forest area as residents worried about where the shooter might appear next.

“We won’t give up until we get our hands on him,” Said John Root, sheriff of Laurel County.

Christina DiNoto, who witnessed the shooting on Saturday while driving on I-75, said Monday that the search was very stressful for her.

“Knowing he’s still at large – it makes me nervous, to be honest.” she said.

DiNoto, an IT project manager, said the shooting also sparked a new kind of fear. “As if you should be afraid to even drive on the highway.”

Meanwhile, more than a dozen schools were closed across much of southeast Kentucky on Monday as the grueling search for Couch continued into its third day.

Donna Hess, who lives 10 miles from the crime scene in rural Laurel County, agreed with the decision to close schools there. Her two children, a first-grader and a preschooler, normally ride the bus.

“I would be afraid that he would try to hijack the bus and take the children hostage,” said Hess. “I'm worried about everyone because they don't know where he is. I hope they get him soon. We don't know what he's capable of right now.”

Couch was last known to live in Woodbine, a small community about 20 miles south of the crime scene. An employee at a gun store in London, Center Target Firearms, told authorities that Couch purchased an AR-15 and 1,000 rounds of ammunition hours before the shooting, the affidavit said.

Joe Arnold, the gun store's manager, declined to comment on the details of the affidavit on Monday, saying he did not want to hinder the investigation.

“We would welcome him being found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Arnold told AP.

Kentucky has few regulations regarding the purchase and carrying of firearms in public. The state's gun laws “are among the worst in the country” according to a report by Everytown For Gun Safety, a gun safety nonprofit organization.

A man who shot and killed five Louisville bank employees in 2023 wrote in his diary that he was surprised that he could buy an AR-15 and 120 rounds in less than an hour. He wrote that it was “so simple” despite his history of mental illness.

Kentucky lawmakers repealed a law in 2019 that required a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The state also does not require a background check upon purchase.

Authorities in Kentucky said Monday that Couch was in the Army Reserve and not the National Guard, as officials had initially indicated. The U.S. Army said in a statement that Couch was in the Army Reserve from 2013 to 2019 as a combat engineer. He was a private when he left and had no deployments.

Pennington said Monday that military experience does not make Couch a trained survivalist. Regardless of his experience, the plan is to wear Couch down.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a survivalist if you’re out there without food and water,” said Pennington. “How long can you really survive? We hope he just goes away.”

Authorities said Couch fired 20 to 30 shots on Saturday, hitting 12 vehicles on the highway.

DiNoto, 39, was driving through Kentucky with a friend on the way back to Houston after visiting relatives in Rochester, New York. When they heard a loud noise Saturday, they assumed a rock had hit their rear window. Her friend wondered if it was gunfire, but they quickly dismissed that possibility.

The driver of a truck in the adjacent lane slumped over and pulled over to the side of the road, but DiNoto assumed the cause was something like a blown tire. They saw emergency crews speeding by on the highway, but didn't realize there had been a shooting until the friend's father called 90 minutes later to check on them.

“We were in the middle of nowhere in Kentucky and we were like, 'What? Someone was standing on an overpass shooting us with an AR-15?'” Said DiNoto.