Central Kentucky children told to stay home from school as I-75 shooting suspect evades capture for third day

WYMT, CNN

By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

(CNN) — Schools across a swath of central Kentucky have cancelled classes Monday and residents have been urged to remain on high alert as the deep-woods search for a man suspected of opening fire along I-75 enters its third day.

Joseph Couch, 32, has evaded capture since Saturday afternoon, when authorities say he fired an AR-15 from a cliff ledge on the side of the interstate about nine miles north of London, Kentucky, striking 12 cars and wounding five people.

Though his motive is still unknown, the attack appeared to be a “random act” of violence, Laurel County Sheriff’s Deputy Gilbert Acciardo said, according to The Associated Press.

Search efforts led by the Kentucky State Police were paused overnight and are set to resume after 8 a.m. Monday morning, Root said.

Couch could still be armed and hiding anywhere in the the vast, densely wooded area near where his AR-15, ammunition, car and possibly his phone were found, Laurel County Sheriff John Root said Sunday night. Just hours before the shooting, Couch legally purchased a firearm and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition, sheriff’s office officials said.

It is also possible Couch has killed himself somewhere in the wilderness, Laurel County Sheriff’s Office Captain Richard Dalrymple said Sunday.

Alongside helicopters, drones and K-9 teams, ground crews are scouring a mountainous search area that spans thousands of acres and is crisscrossed with ATV trails, according to the sheriff and Kentucky State Police spokesperson Scottie Pennington. In some places, they are using machetes to slice through thick brush, Pennington said.

Until Couch is found, law enforcement are warning the community to stay vigilant for any signs of him and take steps to keep their homes safe.

“You need to lock your doors. If you have security cameras, make sure you’re constantly watching them, maybe keep your porch lights on,” Pennington advised residents. “Have your cell phone and make sure your phones are charged up because you never know when you might have to contact somebody or law enforcement.”

Safety concerns also led more than a dozen area school districts and several other private schools to cancel classes Monday, including those in Laurel, Jackson and Clay counties.

London Mayor Randall Weddle said Sunday his office is communicating with local school superintendents. He added, “Of course, their priority is to keep our children safe.”

Though none of the victims of Saturday’s shooting were killed, some were left with “very severe” injuries, including a person who was shot in the face and another “across the chest,” according to Acciardo. Others were “critically hurt” but were in stable condition Sunday, he said.

Couch, a veteran of the National Guard, has a “very minimal” criminal record in the state, according to Jackie Steele, the commonwealth attorney for Laurel and Knox Counties. He was charged with terroristic threatening, but the charge was dismissed earlier this year, Steele said. No other details on the charge were given.

Authorities searched the suspect’s house Sunday evening and are hoping to gain insight from electronic devices found inside, Dalrymple said.

Speaking at the news conference Sunday night, Root urged the suspect to turn himself in.

“We’re not going to quit until we do lay hands on him,” Root said, adding, “This effort is not going to stop.”

Search crews scour a jungle-like forest

Search teams face a daunting undertaking as they trudge through the vast, secluded forest – a task the state police spokesperson compared to trudging through a jungle.

“You can’t do it very fast because you don’t want to leave (any) rock unturned. You don’t know if he’s in that area. So you’ve gotta be very slow-paced at what you do,” Pennington said.

More than 150 federal, state and local personnel are involved in the investigation and search for Couch, Root estimated, though only about 40 to 50 of those are on the ground.

While Couch did not appear to be targeting specific people, the attack did appear to be “a planned event,” Acciardo said Sunday.

“At this point, we do not believe he has outside assistance,” Acciardo said, though he later noted it’s “extremely possible” the suspect is using some form of telecommunications.

The length of time Couch is able to survive in the wilderness depends on how prepared he was, which is still unclear to authorities.

Following the shooting Saturday, investigators found a vehicle registered to Couch along a forest service road off Exit 49, with an empty gun case inside. The vehicle was “very near the interstate, but not close enough that the person of interest could have fired from that location,” Acciardo said.

The suspect is believed to have walked to a cliff along the side of the interstate and fired from a ledge about 30 feet down the cliff, according to Dalrymple. Authorities later recovered the AR-15 near the site, along with a phone with the battery removed.

‘I looked down and was just pouring blood,’ victim says

What started as a family day out ended with a trip to the emergency room for one of the shooting’s victims, 28-year-old Rebecca Puryear.

Puryear, her husband and 4-year-old son had spent the day together in Lexington and were on the 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 my (passenger-side) window is busted and there’s a bullet hole.”

Puryear continued driving for another mile and a half before pulling over in a safer area. She made sure her husband and son were safe before realizing she had been shot.

“I looked down and was just pouring blood,” Puryear said. “I had to try to keep it together because if I freaked out, they would’ve freaked out.”

They called 911, Puryear said, and Laurel County Sheriff’s Deputy Bobby Roberts responded as another ambulance was headed to assist other victims behind her at the scene.

“I started fainting and going in and out, and he told me to get in his cruiser so he could take me to the hospital.”

Puryear said a bullet entered through the passenger-side window and struck her right arm, penetrating her chest before exiting through her left arm. She was released from a hospital later Saturday night but will need surgery.

“We’re blessed that I’m still alive. I’m a walking miracle,” Puryear told CNN. “It still does not feel real to me, even though I’m sitting here with gaping wounds.”

CNN’s Paradise Afshar, Raja Razek, Lauren Mascarenhas, Chris Boyette, Jillian Sykes and Zoe Sottile contributed to this report.

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