FRANKFORT, Ky. — Authorities have found a body near the rural southeastern Kentucky site where a gunman opened fire on an interstate highway, hitting a dozen vehicles and wounding five people, police said Wednesday.
Investigators were working to identify the body, state police Master Trooper Scottie Pennington said in a social media post. It was located in the vicinity of the Interstate 75 exit where the Sept. 7 shooting occurred near London, a city of about 8,000 people about 75 miles south of Lexington.
Police did not immediately provide other details about the discovery.
The shooting put residents on edge, and many took extra precautions with the suspected gunman, 32-year-old Joseph Couch, still at large.
Hundreds of law enforcement personnel have taken part in the massive search, which focused on a rugged, wooded area near where the assailant sprayed the highway with bullets.
On Tuesday, authorities said they were pulling searchers from the woods to bolster patrols in nearby communities.
County schools reopened Tuesday with extra police security.
The day after the shooting, authorities searched an area near where Couch’s vehicle was found, with a view of I-75, and found an Army-style duffel bag, ammunition and spent shell casings, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
A short distance away, they found an AR-15 rifle with a mounted sight and several magazines. The duffel bag had “Couch” handwritten in black marker. The gunman fired 20 to 30 rounds, investigators said.
According to the affidavit, shortly the shooting Couch said in a text message: “I’m going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least.” In a separate message he said, “I’ll kill myself afterwards.”
The affidavit did not describe the relationship between Couch and the woman who received the texts. Couch and the woman have a child together but were never married, according to an attorney who handled the custody arrangement for the couple and their son born in 2016.
