Arrest warrant: Suspect in shooting on I-75 in Kentucky vowed in text message that he would 'kill a lot of people' – Boston News, Weather, Sports

(CNN) — The man suspected of shooting five people on a Kentucky highway sent a text message to a woman before the attack warning her of his plan to “kill a lot of people,” according to an arrest warrant against him.

“I'm going to kill a lot of people. Well, I'm going to try,” Joseph Couch wrote in his text message, according to the arrest warrant. In another message he sent less than half an hour before the shooting, he allegedly wrote: “I'm going to kill myself after this…”

According to the arrest warrant, the woman called 911 after receiving the alarming text messages and later showed police screenshots of the messages during an interview early Sunday.

Authorities are still searching for 32-year-old Couch, who has evaded arrest since Saturday afternoon. Authorities say he fired an AR-15 from a ledge on the side of a highway about 10 miles north of London, Kentucky, hitting 12 cars and injuring five people.

On the day of the shooting, Couch purchased an AR-15 with sights and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, paying a total of nearly $3,000, the warrant states. The sheriff's office said he made the purchases legally.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Couch on five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault, Jackie Steele, district attorney for Laurel and Knox counties, told CNN.

Police hope constant pressure and an intensive search operation involving drones, helicopters, dogs and dozens of officers will lead to the suspect's arrest. Teams from federal, state and local authorities are combing the vast, heavily wooded area near where officers found Couch's AR-15, ammunition, car and a phone believed to belong to him.

“Our goal is to keep applying pressure and make Mr. Couch more and more tired the longer he is in the woods,” Kentucky State Police spokesman Scottie Pennington said at a press conference on Monday afternoon. “Hopefully he has no water or food.”

The remote area of ​​Daniel Boone National Forest covers thousands of acres and includes sinkholes, caves, culverts, creeks and rivers. In some places, officials are using machetes to cut through the dense brush, Pennington said previously.

Although the motive is still unknown, the attack appears to have been a “random act” of violence, Laurel County Sheriff's Deputy Gilbert Acciardo said, according to the Associated Press.

According to the Kentucky State Police, a $15,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to Couch's arrest.

“The message to him is: You can run, but you can't hide,” Randall Weddle, the mayor of London, Kentucky, said on CNN on Monday afternoon.

“We want the citizens to know everything”

As long as Couch remains at large, law enforcement has a clear message to the local community: If you see something, say something.

“We want citizens to report everything,” Pennington said Monday afternoon. “If you come home and your doors don't look the way you left them, go back out and call someone.”

“If you hear your dogs barking late at night, call,” he added.

He recommended that residents keep their cellphones charged and nearby and monitor any tech devices, such as Ring cameras or trail cameras, that might record something unusual. And he urged that they check on their neighbors, including those living in remote cabins or self-built homes.

Pennington warned that anyone who sees Couch should stay away because he may still be armed.

The shooting and the manhunt that followed have left residents in central Kentucky on edge. More than a dozen school districts and several private schools in the region canceled classes Monday, including those in Laurel, Jackson and Clay counties. Laurel County has announced that classes will also be canceled Tuesday.

“Everyone is scared,” Weddle said. “It's a very dangerous situation.”

Although none of the victims of Saturday's shooting were killed, some suffered “very serious” injuries, according to Acciardo. One was shot in the face, another “across the chest.” Others were “seriously injured” but were in stable condition Sunday, he said.

According to the arrest warrant, the victims are Rebecca Puryear, Norma Liberia, Renee Walker, Janet Booth and Erick Gavin. All five were traveling south on I-75.

Puryear, 28, described herself to CNN as a “walking miracle” after surviving the shooting. She was driving home with her husband and four-year-old son when they heard gunshots on I-75.

When she stopped, “she looked down and was just bleeding,” Puryear said.

Puryear said a bullet entered through the passenger window and struck her right arm. It entered her chest and exited through her left arm. She was released from the hospital Saturday night but will need surgery.

Although the suspect did not appear to be targeting specific individuals, the attack appeared to be “planned,” Acciardo said Sunday. The FBI's famed profilers, working with local police, have developed a “general concept” of the suspect's motive for the shooting on I-75 in Kentucky based on seized “material,” a law enforcement official told CNN.

Couch served as a pioneer in the Army Reserve for about six years between 2013 and 2019. He was not deployed and was a private – the Army's lowest rank – at the end of his service, Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Ruth Castro said in a statement to CNN.

Couch has “very few” criminal records in the state, according to Steele. He was charged with making terroristic threats, but the charge was dropped earlier this year, Steele said. Further details about the charge were not provided.

There were no “red flags” with the suspect and all of his purchases were legal, Weddle told CNN.

Authorities searched the suspect's home Sunday evening and hope to gain insight from electronic devices found inside, said Captain Richard Dalrymple of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office.

Search teams comb through a jungle-like forest

Search crews face a daunting challenge as they trudge through the vast, remote forest – a task the state police spokesman compared to trekking through a jungle.

“You can't do it very quickly because you don't want to leave any stone unturned. You don't know if he's in the area. So you have to go very slowly,” Pennington said.

More than 150 federal, state and local officials are involved in the investigation and search for Couch, Root estimated, but only about 40 to 50 of them are on site. Pennington added Monday afternoon that the response teams would take turns resting after the strenuous hours of searching.

After police received a call about Couch's threatening text messages, they began tracking his cellphone, according to the warrant. The phone beeped at 6:53 p.m., 2,500 yards from the cell tower at Exit 49 on Cromer Ridge – more than an hour after the shooting was first reported.

The search is focused on the area near where authorities discovered Couch's gun and vehicle. After Saturday's shooting, investigators found a vehicle registered to Couch on a logging road near Exit 49 with an empty gun case inside.

The suspect allegedly ran to a cliff at the side of the highway and fired from a ledge about 30 feet down the cliff, according to Dalrymple. Authorities later found a “green army-style duffel bag,” several ammunition magazines and “numerous empty shell casings” near the vehicle, the warrant states. They also found an AR-15 and sights nearby, as well as a phone with the battery removed.

The forest is full of hazards that complicate the search, including cliffs, culverts, sinkholes and potentially dangerous animals such as snakes.

How long Couch can survive in the wild depends on his preparation, which is still unclear to authorities.

“At this point, we do not believe he is receiving any outside assistance,” Acciardo said, although he later noted that it was “highly likely” the suspect was using some form of telecommunications.

Police plan to continue the search until Couch is found: “We're going to go out every day and try to find him,” Pennington said.

He said that while “we hope we have found him,” Couch may be outside the search area. He added that he is registered with the National Crime Information Center, a digital database that allows law enforcement agencies to share information.

It is also possible that Couch committed suicide somewhere in the wilderness, Dalrymple said on Sunday.

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