General
Kentucky Highway Shooting Manhunt Ends After a Suspect’s Body Is Found
The authorities said that after a 12-day search, remains were discovered near the site of the attack that left five people seriously wounded.
A body was found on Wednesday that was believed to be that of the suspect in a Kentucky highway shooting that left five people seriously injured this month, the authorities said. The discovery ended a manhunt that had stretched into a second week and set the local community on edge.
The Kentucky State Police commissioner, Phillip Burnett Jr., said in a Wednesday night news conference that two troopers and two civilians found an unidentified body at about 3:30 p.m., in the brush behind the highway exit where the shooting occurred. Items were found with the body that were believed to belong to the suspect, Mr. Burnett said.
“The people of Laurel County can rest easy — much easier — knowing that this manhunt has now come to a conclusion,” he said.
How long the body had been there before it was discovered was unclear, and the authorities were investigating the cause of death, Mr. Burnett said.
The police have identified the suspect in the shooting as Joseph A. Couch, 32. They said that on Sept. 7, Mr. Couch perched on a cliff overlooking Interstate 75 about eight miles north of London, Ky., and began shooting at passing vehicles. One of the wounded was shot in the face, and another was shot in the chest. A dozen vehicles were struck by gunfire.
According to a police affidavit in support of arrest warrants, Mr. Couch purchased an AR-15-style rifle and 1,000 rounds of ammunition a few hours before the shooting began. He then sent a series of alarming text messages, including one that read: “I’m going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least.”
