Shocking news in manhunt for US veteran on the run in Kentucky after 'shooting five people'

An Army veteran is still on the run after firing an AR-15 on a busy Kentucky highway – and authorities have now revealed how he acquired the weapon just hours before the shooting.

32-year-old Joseph Couch has been able to evade arrest since Saturday afternoon. His gun was found in a wooded area along with ammunition, his car and an object that, according to Laurel County police, could be his possible cell phone.

The discovery was the result of a day-long search on Saturday and Sunday in the rugged, hilly and wooded terrain near Exit 49 on I-75.

The previous evening, Crouch had fired the same weapon from a rocky outcrop on the side of the motorway, about nine miles north of London.

He rammed twelve cars and injured five people. No one was killed, and the search for Couch continued early Monday morning.

Authorities said Sunday that the Army veteran purchased the gun hours before the shooting that brought traffic to a standstill near Exit 49 on I-75.

“We have numerous people still searching in the wooded area up there,” Deputy Gilbert Acciardo said at the scene on Sunday.

“The ATF, the FBI and the Marshal Service, their ERTS (Emergency Response Teams) are to help us process what we have so far,” he said.

“Last night we seized the suspect's vehicle in this area – that's why he is a suspect. The vehicle was returned registered to him.

“The recovery was done late last night and that's why we had the information we have today,” he continued, before revealing what officials had found seconds earlier.

only in the last few minutes. We found an AR-15,” he said.

“It is being worked on and is located in a wooded area next to the highway.”

He added that the weapon was “found in a place [where Couch] could have shot down on the highway,” before answering a question about where police had found the car the night before.

“It's on a logging road up on the hill near exit 49, down another little trail that comes off that logging road,” he said.

“We have numerous individuals still searching in the wooded area up there,” Deputy Gilbert Acciardo said at the scene on Sunday before revealing how investigators had found the suspected murder weapon shortly before.

Meanwhile, Couch is still at large, probably in the wooded area next to the highway.

Police determined it was Couch's Toyota after describing his shooting as “sniper-like” and not the result of road rage.

The highway was full of motorists, but no one was fatally hit by the unknown number of bullets. A total of five people were hit, all in stable condition.

“Very close to the highway, but not close enough that [Couch] could have fired from this location.

“He had to continue to the highway where we found the gun.”

Following this discovery, police upgraded Couch from a person of interest to a suspect – a development that, according to Laurel County Sheriff John Root, was also due to “some information” that he could not disclose when asked.

Root added that he and investigators believe Couch is still in the area and hiding in the woods. State Police Master Trooper Scottie Pennington said it was like “hiking in the jungle” because machetes were needed to get through the dense forest.

Acciardo added that it appears that the attacker planned the shooting from this location because it was remote and the terrain was hilly.

The area is also rocky and difficult to navigate. Laurel County Sheriff's Captain Richard Dalrymple didn't discover it until he was clinging to a tree and looking down at the spot – a ledge about 30 feet below a cliff above Exit 49.

During a press conference later that evening, Dalrymple stated that Couch legally purchased approximately one thousand rounds of ammunition and the gun used in the incident on Saturday morning, just hours before the shooting.

Laurel County Sheriff John Root said Couch was declared a suspect on Sunday in part because he could not disclose “some information.”

A broken window is seen here from Couch's hail of bullets. He remains on the run and may still be armed, cops said Sunday.

Late Sunday night, Laurel County Sheriff's Captain Richard Dalrymple announced that Couch had legally purchased approximately one thousand rounds of ammunition and that the gun used in the incident Saturday morning, just hours before the shooting, was legal.

Following this revelation, the large-scale, 150-man search for Couch, which had begun at 8 a.m. on Monday, was called off for the night.

Acciardo had described Couch's shooting earlier on Sunday as “sniper-like” and stressed that it was not a result of road rage but was intentional.

He added that investigators at the time did not believe the shooter – a diehard Army veteran who lived in Woodbine – knew or had contact with any of the victims before firing the volley of bullets.

Although the weapon he used in the incident was recovered, police said Sunday that the suspect may still be armed and dangerous, and people who see him were warned not to approach him but to contact authorities instead.

Investigators also considered the possibility that Couch may have committed suicide somewhere in the woods, but that remains to be seen.

Police said the victims he shot suffered injuries to the face, chest and arms, but were all taken to a hospital in stable condition Sunday evening. None of the victims were named.