Search for suspect in Kentucky highway shooting enters seventh day, victim released from hospital

As the hunt for the suspected gunman in a shooting on an eastern Kentucky highway that left five people injured enters its seventh day, Governor Andy Beshear announced that police officers will be stationed at high school football games and along school bus routes to ease fear in surrounding communities.

Beshear said Thursday that four of the victims of Saturday's sniper attack on Interstate 75 near London, Kentucky, have left hospitals and that the fifth victim is also expected to survive.

The governor expressed confidence that law enforcement officials, with the assistance of FBI agents, the U.S. Marshal's Service and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, will be able to capture suspect Joseph Couch and bring him to justice.

“I don't have any evidence yet as to what brought him to this point, but there is no excuse,” he said. “If you implement a plan to take the lives of our fellow human beings and attempt to take as many as possible, you can and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Beshear said Kentucky State Police believe Couch, 32, is still in the dense woods of the 283,000-acre Daniel Boone National Forest, describing the forest as “the most rugged terrain anyone can hide in.”

Kentucky State Police Chief Phillip “PJ” Burnett said more than 100 officers combed the woods, where investigators found an AR-15 rifle believed to have been used in the shooting and Couch's abandoned vehicle on a forest road on the day of the rampage.

“We don't have any significant news at this time, but we are following up on the leads,” Burnett said.

The commissioner said police are using state-of-the-art technology in the search, including Black Hawk helicopters from the Kentucky National Guard, aircraft with thermal imaging cameras and several police dogs, including cadaver dogs and FBI bloodhounds flown in from Illinois.

Burnett said the search, which focused on the area near Exit 49 on I-75, will expand to the Daniel Boone National Forest.

“We will continue to work until we have exhausted every single lead,” Burnett said.

Beshear said he would consider sending National Guard troops into the forest to assist with the ground search.

“Air support has been requested at this time. The Black Hawks have proven to be very helpful. We do not have another request at this time, but that is something we would certainly look into,” Beshear said of the National Guard's deployment on the ground.

However, Beshear said investigators believe Couch may still be armed and dangerous.

“This is not the kind of search where you can send out a whole group of people at once because we believe the person is still armed and would be difficult to detect. And we want to make sure we don't lose anyone in the process,” Beshear said.

According to the arrest warrant, Couch, a former member of the US Army Reserve, is wanted for attempted murder and aggravated assault. A $35,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his capture.

Couch was allegedly involved in a domestic dispute Saturday morning and legally purchased an AR-15 rifle and ammunition at a gun store, hours before he allegedly opened fire on vehicles traveling on I-75, law enforcement officials told ABC News.

As many as 30 shots were fired from a hillside near Exit 49, officials said. At least 12 vehicles were hit by gunfire, with five people suffering gunshot wounds, including one victim who was shot in the face, officials said.

Investigators believe that all of the victims were shot at random and that Couch had no prior contact with any of them.

Before the highway shooting, according to the arrest warrant, a Laurel County 911 dispatcher received a call from a woman who claimed Couch had texted her and told her he was going to “kill a lot of people. Well, at least he should try.” The text was sent to the woman at 5:03 p.m. Saturday, about a half-hour before the highway shooting began, according to the warrant.

“Couch sent (the woman) another message which said, in part, 'I am going to kill myself after this,'” the arrest warrant states.

London city officials told ABC News that the woman Couch texted was the mother of his child.

Burnett said Thursday that police “understand there is fear in the community.” To help ease fears, he said police and state officials will be stationed at every high school football game in Laurel County on Friday night.

Beshear said police presence at public schools in the area will be increased and state police are assisting local police with some bus routes to ensure students get to school safely.

The governor pleaded with the citizens not to make Couch a folk hero for evading arrest.

“There is nothing notorious or famous about such an act,” Beshear said. “There is simply evil at play.”