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FRANKFORT, Kentucky — Authorities consider the body of a person suspected of shooting and wounding five people on a Kentucky highway has been found.
Lt. Col. Phillip “PJ” Burnett said the body found Wednesday is believed to be that of Joseph Couch of Woodbine, Kentucky.
Burnett said accessories found on the body led her to consider it was him.
Authorities said the body was found after a lengthy search within the rugged and hilly terrain of southeastern Kentucky where the Sept. 7 attack occurred.
Investigators were working to discover the body, State Police Master Trooper Scottie Pennington said earlier in a social media post. It was found near the Interstate 75 exit near London, a town of about 8,000 people about 75 miles south of Lexington.
The highway shootings sent rural areas into turmoil, causing some schools to shut for several days and switch to online classes while authorities urged area residents to be vigilant. On Tuesday, schools within the district where the shooting occurred reopened with additional police protection.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear called the shooting “an act of violence and evil.”
A dozen vehicles were hit when the gunman fired 20 to 30 shots near a highway exit, causing chaos. Authorities rushed to the scene after being alerted around 5:30 p.m. The five victims survived the attack, but some suffered serious injuries.
After sending the text message promising to “kill a lot of people” before the attack, Couch sent one other one saying, “I'm going to kill myself after this,” investigators said within the affidavit. The document doesn’t describe the connection between Couch and the lady who received the text message. However, Couch and the lady have one child together but were never married, in accordance with an attorney who handled custody of the couple and their son, born in 2016.
Investigators found Couch's abandoned vehicle near the crime scene and a semi-automatic weapon that investigators consider was utilized in the shooting. An army-style duffel bag found had “Couch” handwritten on it and a phone believed to belong to Couch was also found, however the battery had been removed.
According to authorities, he bought the AR-15 weapon and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition at a London gun store a number of hours before the shooting.
Couch had a military background within the Army Reserve. The U.S. Army said he served as a combat engineer from 2013 to 2019. He was a personal when he left and had no deployments.
The search focused on a densely wooded area about eight miles north of London, which a state police official described as “a walk through the jungle.” Aided by helicopters and drones, search teams on the bottom battled cliffs, sinkholes, caves, waterways and dense undergrowth.
Authorities said they were inundated with suggestions from the general public and were following up on each one. When the bottom search was suspended overnight, specially trained officers were deployed at strategic locations within the forest to forestall the gunman from leaving the realm.
On Tuesday, authorities said they were withdrawing search forces from the forest to extend patrols in surrounding communities to calm residents' fears.
Since the shooting, police have received greater than 400 suggestions, most of which pointed to areas outside the extensive forest that was the main focus of the search.
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