Man accused of shooting five people on highway vowed to 'kill a lot of people,' arrest warrant says

Kentucky State Police Public Information Officer Master Sgt. Scottie Pennington speaks to 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 pledging to “kill a lot of people” less than 30 minutes before he shot and wounded five people on Interstate 75, authorities said in an arrest warrant.

“I’m going to kill a lot of people. Well, 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’ll kill myself after” the affidavit says.

The Lexington Herald-Leader identified the woman to whom Couch sent the text messages as his ex-wife. The affidavit 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 The Associated Press 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 spent cartridge casings, the affidavit states. A short distance away, they found a Colt AR-15 rifle with a sight mounted on the weapon and several extra magazines. The duffel bag contained “Couch” handwritten in black marker.

Researchers combed 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 were being brought in from across the state to help with the search, which was focused on a remote area about eight miles north of London. He described the vast search area as “walking in the jungle” with machetes needed to cut through the thickets.

“We have cliffs, sinkholes, caves.” Pennington said this on 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.

“We won’t give up until we get our hands on him.” Laurel County Sheriff John Root said.

Christina DiNoto, who witnessed the shooting Saturday while driving on I-75, said Monday the search weighs heavily on her mind.

“Knowing that he’s still out there makes me nervous, honestly,” she said.

DiNoto, an IT project manager, said the shooting also triggered a new kind of fear, “As if we should be afraid of just driving on the highways.”

Meanwhile, more than a dozen school districts closed Monday across a wide swath of southeastern Kentucky as the grueling search for Couch stretched into a third day.

Donna Hess, who lives 10 miles from the shooting in rural Laurel County, supported the decision to close schools in that area. Her two children, a first-grader and a preschooler, usually ride the bus.

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

Couch most 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 on the details of the affidavit. 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 AP.

Kentucky has few regulations regarding the purchase of firearms and their public carrying. State Gun Laws “are among the worst in the country” according to a report from Everytown For Gun Safety, a nonprofit gun safety group.

A man who shot and killed five co-workers at a Louisville bank in 2023 wrote in his journal that he was surprised he was able to buy an AR-15 and 120 rounds of ammunition in less than an hour. He wrote that it was “so easy” despite his history of mental illness.

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 was in the Army Reserve 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 doesn’t make Couch an experienced survivalist. Whatever his experience, the plan is to wear Couch down.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a survivalist if you’re out there with no food or water.” Pennington said. “How long can he actually survive? We hope he goes away.”

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

DiNoto, 39, was driving in Kentucky with a friend on their way to Houston after visiting relatives in Rochester, New York, when they heard a loud noise Saturday and assumed a rock had hit her rear windshield. Her friend wondered if it was gunfire, but they quickly ruled that out.

The driver of a truck traveling in the next lane collapsed and pulled over, but DiNoto assumed the cause was something like a tire blowout. They saw first responders speeding down the highway, but didn’t realize there had been a shooting until the friend’s father called to check on them 90 minutes later.

“We were in the middle of nowhere in Kentucky and it was like someone was shooting at us with an AR-15 on a highway bridge.” DiNoto said.

Today’s latest news and more delivered to your inbox