As a search continued into its 11th day for the suspect in a mass shooting that wounded five people on an interstate highway in Kentucky earlier this month, officials and law enforcement announced they were redirecting resources away from the manhunt and focusing instead on protecting the surrounding community.
More schools reopened Tuesday in the area around London, a town of about 8,000 people on the edge of southeastern Kentucky’s sprawling Daniel Boone National Forest, said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear at a news conference, where he confirmed the search had not yet turned up meaningful leads. In addition to schools in neighboring Rockcastle County and Whitley County that resumed classes with additional law enforcement stationed on their premises, the district where London is located also said students would return to in-person classes starting Tuesday.
Laurel County Public Schools had paused in-person classes when the manhunt got underway Sept. 7 for Joseph Couch, 32, the man identified as the suspect who shot and wounded five people as they traveled on Interstate 75. The gunman struck about a dozen vehicles when he opened fire, officials said.
The district said schools followed a remote learning model for three days before resuming normal attendance with “an increased presence of law enforcement throughout the day, monitoring all campuses and buildings in Laurel County Schools,” as well as “an increased presence of law enforcement patrol along the most rural bus routes.”
“We appreciate the support, trust, and cooperation of our families and the community as we safely return to school,” the school district said in a statement. “Laurel County Schools District administration and police department will continue communications with law enforcement and emergency agencies regarding the situation in our county. Should the need arise, we will adjust and communicate an updated plan.”
Couch has been charged with five counts of criminal attempt to commit murder and first-degree assault.
An affidavit for his arrest, obtained by CBS News, said less than 30 minutes before he opened fire on the highway, the suspect wrote in a text message, “I’m going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least.” In a separate text message, he wrote, “I’ll kill myself afterwards,” the affidavit said.
The highway shooting prompted a massive mobilization of local, state and federal law enforcement officers who probed the Boone National Forest for signs of the suspect. On Tuesday, Beshear said drones, Black Hawk helicopters and heat sensors had been deployed alongside ground search crews on ATVs to scan 28,000 acres of the dense and notoriously rugged forest, which in all spans 2.1 million acres and includes both public and private land, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Kentucky State Police Master Trooper Scottie Pennington previously likened the terrain to “a jungle.” It’s described by the forest service as encompassing forested slopes, sandstone cliffs and narrow ravines.
Two days into the search, law enforcement officers found a green Army-style duffel bag with “Couch” written on it in marker, ammunition and numerous used shell casings near the spot where Couch’s vehicle was found, according to the warrant affidavit. Nearby, they also found a Colt AR-15 rifle.
But Beshear said Tuesday that the likelihood of actually finding Couch in the forest has declined as the manhunt has drawn on.
“In other words, the odds of finding the individual in the forest are less,” he said, adding that “our best plan now is to augment law enforcement in the community.”
The governor and law enforcement officials who spoke at Tuesday’s news conference said transferring resources from the manhunt into the surrounding communities would provide a better public safety outcome and serve as a deterrent for the suspect. Personnel will still be monitoring cameras set up throughout the forest and using aircraft surveillance in that area.
“We will not live our lives in fear,” said Beshear. “We will move forward together and, yes, we will get through this together.”
