Searchers believe they have found body of Kentucky highway shooting suspect

By Bruce Schreinera, Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A body found in rural southeastern Kentucky is believed to be that of the man suspected of shooting and wounding five people on an interstate highway, authorities said Wednesday night.

Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. said at a news conference that the body discovered earlier in the day is believed to be that of Joseph Couch of Woodbine. Authorities hoped the discovery would end an intense, nearly two-week search that has put residents in the area under strain.

“People are scared,” Laurel County Sheriff John Root said. “This is not normal here in Laurel County. Now that this has been discovered, I hope our county can get back to normal.”

Burnett said paraphernalia found with the body led authorities to conclude it was him. He did not provide details on the cause of death, saying that would be confirmed by an autopsy, but he said a weapon was found at the scene.

“I don't think anybody here would have wanted us to find him in the condition we found him in,” Rood said at the news conference. “I would have preferred him to be alive and able to pay for what he did.”

Authorities said the body was found after a lengthy search in the rugged, hilly terrain of the area where the Sept. 7 attack took place.

Investigators were working to identify him, State Police Chief Scottie Pennington said in a social media post earlier in the day. He was located near the Interstate 75 exit near London, a town of about 8,000 people about 75 miles south of Lexington.

The highway shootings led some schools to close and offer virtual classes for several days, with officials urging area residents to be vigilant. Schools reopened Tuesday with increased police security in the county where the shooting occurred.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called the shooting “an act of violence and evil.”

About a dozen vehicles were hit in the attack, which saw 20 to 30 gunshots fired near a highway exit, creating a chaotic scene. Authorities rushed to the scene after being alerted around 5:30 p.m. All five victims survived the attack, but some were seriously injured.

After sending a text message promising to “kill a lot of people” before the attack, Couch sent another text message saying, “I’ll kill myself after,” investigators said in a sworn affidavit. The document does not describe the relationship between Couch and the woman who received the text messages. However, Couch and the woman have a child together but were never married, according to an attorney who handled custody arrangements for the couple and their son, born in 2016.

Investigators found Couch's abandoned vehicle near the crime scene and a semi-automatic weapon that investigators believe was used in the shooting. A military-style duffel bag was found with the word “Couch” handwritten in marker, and a phone believed to be Couch's was also found, but the battery had been removed.

Authorities said he purchased the AR-15 weapon and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition from a London gun store hours before the shooting.

Couch had a military background in the Army Reserve. The U.S. Army said he served from 2013 to 2019 as a combat engineer. He was a private when he left and had no deployments.

The search focused on a densely forested area about 8 miles (13 kilometers) north of London, which one state police official described as a “jungle walk.” Aided by helicopters and drones, search teams on the ground battled cliffs, sinkholes, caves, streams and thick brush.

Authorities received numerous tips from the public and acted on each one. When the ground search was suspended overnight, specially trained officers were deployed to strategic locations in the woods to prevent the shooter from escaping the area.

On Tuesday, authorities announced they were pulling searchers out of the woods to step up patrols in nearby communities in hopes of allaying residents' fears.

Police have received more than 400 tips since the shooting, most pointing to areas outside the vast forest that was the focus of the search.