Interstate Shut Down After Hidden Shooter Opens Fire on Passing Cars - Massive Manhunt Underway
The manhunt for the suspect in a Saturday shooting on I-75 in Kentucky remains ongoing Monday.
Multiple cars were hit by bullets Saturday evening, leaving five people wounded, the Louisville Courier-Journal. All are expected to live.
The highway north of London, Kentucky, about 60 miles south of Lexington in western Kentucky, was shut down for several hours in the initial stage of the investigation, which has spread into rugged lands around the highway. Schools in the area have been closed.
Police are searching for Joseph Couch, who bought an AR-15 and 1,000 rounds of ammunition Saturday. Couch’s vehicle was found near the scene of the shooting. Although police believe they have Couch contained, they said the rugged nature of the land makes it hard to find him.
Laurel County Sheriff’s Captain Richard Dalrymple said shots were fired about “30 feet down from the top of a cliff” near the highway.
“This is not a road rage incident,” Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, a representative of the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said, according to WLWT-TV. “We still believe we only have one individual that is involved.”
Acciardo called the shooting a “random act” of violence, according to The Associated Press.
Dalrymple said 20 to 30 rounds were fired in the 5:30 p.m. incident, with 12 cars stuck.
Acciardo said the shooting was a “planned event” but police had no idea what the motive was, according to the Courier-Journal.
“We want to get this guy because he’s shot at cars, he’s shown that he’s capable, and that means he’s capable again,” Acciardo said of Couch.
Laurel County Sheriff John Root said officials are asking Couch to surrender.
“We would ask that he would give himself up,” Root said. “We’re not going to quit until we lay hands on him.”
Shooting victim Rebecca Puryear, 28, said she did not know at first she had been hit, according to CNN.
“It sounded like a tire had blown, so I asked my husband, and he said it was gunshots,” Puryear, who was riding with her husband and 4-year-old son, said.
“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, she said, noting that she did not know she was shot until they pulled off the highway.
🚨BREAKING🚨
Kentucky Shooting Suspect Still On The Run: Laurel County, Kentucky shooting suspect Joseph A. Couch, a suspect in connection with a shooting on an interstate highway that left at least five people in stable condition as of this morning has still not been captured.… pic.twitter.com/S692yWXiRN— John Cremeans USA (@JohnCremeansUSA) September 8, 2024
“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.”
Puryear said the bullet that hit her struck her right arm, passed through her chest and exited her body through her left arm. a bullet entered through the passenger-side window and struck her right arm.
“We’re blessed that I’m still alive. I’m a walking miracle. It still does not feel real to me, even though I’m sitting here with gaping wounds,” she said.
In March, a charge against Couch of making a terroristic threat was dismissed, according to NBC.
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