Kentucky Residents Warned to ‘Stay Vigilant’ for Missing Highway Shooter

Residents in southeastern Kentucky were urged to “remain vigilant” Sunday after a highway gunman injured five people while reportedly camped out and shooting at passing cars.

Police in Laurel County said officers who responded to a 911 call early Saturday evening on Interstate 75 found vehicles with bullet holes parked on the side of the highway and several injured people.

“Some of them were injured so badly and bleeding so bad that our deputies actually loaded them up and took them to an area hospital,” said Laurel County Sheriff public information officer Gilbert Acciardo at a Sunday media briefing. “Everything was chaotic.” The five victims are expected to recover and were listed in stable condition.

Initial reports suggested the shooting began as a result of a road rage incident, the sheriff’s office said, but officers determined a shooter camped out near a highway expert and shot at passing cars. A strip of the highway was closed by police after the incident on Saturday but later reopened.

Joseph A. Couch, 32, was named as a person of interest and police warned he should be considered armed and dangerous. “We got some breaks in the in this case to identify a suspect early on and I really think this is going to be the guy,” Acciardo added.

Police said they recovered a “small silver colored SUV” registered to Couch off a highway exit and that a rifle case was in the vehicle. They also found a an AR-15 in a wooded area next to the highway that could be the weapon that was used in the incident.

A Facebook post by the sheriff’s office said both ground and drone searches were being conducted.

“Please remain vigilant and call 911 if you see the individual in question,” said Randall Weddle, the mayor of nearby London, KY, in an early morning Facebook post on Sunday. “Let’s keep the victims, their families, and all of our first responders in our thoughts and prayers.”