Manhunt for I-75 shooting suspect enters third day, prompting central Kentucky school districts to cancel classes

CNN
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Many central Kentucky schools canceled classes Monday and residents were urged to remain on high alert as the manhunt for a man suspected of opening fire along I-75 enters its third day.

Joseph Couch, 32, has been able to evade arrest since Saturday afternoon. According to authorities, he fired an AR-15 from a ledge on the side of a highway about 15 kilometers north of London, Kentucky, hitting 12 cars and injuring five people.

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

The search effort, led by Kentucky State Police, was suspended overnight and is scheduled to resume after 8 a.m. Monday morning, Root said.

Couch could still be armed and hiding somewhere in the vast, heavily wooded area near where his AR-15, ammunition, car and possibly phone were found, Laurel County Sheriff John Root said Sunday night. Just hours before the shooting, Couch had legally purchased a firearm and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition, sheriff's office officials said.

It is also possible that Couch committed suicide somewhere in the wilderness, Captain Richard Dalrymple of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office said Sunday.

Ground teams, along with helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs, are combing a mountainous search area that stretches across thousands of acres and is crisscrossed by ATV trails, said Kentucky State Police Sheriff and spokesman Scottie Pennington. In some places, they are using machetes to cut through the dense brush, Pennington said.

Until Couch is found, police are warning the public to watch for signs of him and take steps to protect their homes.

“You need to lock your doors. If you have security cameras, make sure you keep an eye on them at all times, and maybe leave your porch lights on,” Pennington advised residents. “Take your cell phone with you and make sure your phones are charged because you never know when you might need to contact someone or the police.”

Safety concerns also led more than a dozen school districts and several other private schools in the area to cancel classes on Monday, including schools in Laurel, Jackson and Clay counties.

London Mayor Randall Weddle said on Sunday that his office was in contact with local school inspectors. He added: “Of course, their priority is the safety of our children.”

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

Couch, a National Guard veteran, has “very little” criminal history in the state, according to Jackie Steele, district attorney for Laurel and Knox counties. 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.

Authorities searched the suspect's home Sunday evening and hope to gain insight from electronic devices found inside, Dalrymple said.

At the press conference on Sunday evening, Root called on the suspect to turn himself in.

“We will not give up until we get our hands on him,” Root said, adding, “This effort will not stop.”

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

Root estimates that more than 150 federal, state and local officials are involved in the investigation and search for Couch, but only 40 to 50 of them are on site.

Although it did not appear that Couch was targeting specific individuals, the attack was likely “a planned event,” Acciardo said Sunday.

“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.

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

After the shooting on Saturday, investigators found a vehicle registered to Couch with an empty gun case inside on a forest road near Exit 49. The vehicle was “very close to the highway, but not close enough for the suspect to have fired from there,” Acciardo said.

Dalrymple said the suspect ran to a cliff at the side of the highway and fired shots from a ledge about 30 feet below. Authorities later found the AR-15 and a phone without a battery near the crime scene.

CNN's Paradise Afshar, Raja Razek, Lauren Mascarenhas, Chris Boyette and Zoe Sottile contributed to this report.