'So scary': Witness describes what she heard during interstate shooting

(CNN) — Investigators believe they have found the body of a man they say shot five people and a dozen cars on an interstate highway in Kentucky this month, state police said Wednesday – ending an 11-day manhunt that stretched deep into the sprawling Daniel Boone National Forest and put surrounding communities on edge.

The body, believed to be that of Joseph Couch, was found Wednesday afternoon by a civilian couple as well as two troopers in deep rural brush off Interstate 75 northwest of London, Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. said.

The troopers, drawn to the area by circling vultures and an odor of decay – and the couple, searching for Couch separately – encountered each other in the woods, and the four then almost immediately “stumbled upon” the body, Burnett said, without elaborating on why the couple were looking.

Investigators believe the body is Couch’s because of articles associated with the remains, Burnett said. The body will be sent to Frankfort, the state’s capital, for positive identification Thursday, the commissioner said at a news conference in Laurel County.

“We’re very confident that this brings the closure in the search for Joseph Couch,” Burnett said. “The people of Laurel County can rest … much easier knowing that this manhunt has now come to a conclusion.”

A cause of death will be determined through an autopsy, Burnett said. A weapon was found where the body was, he said.

No cause of death was immediately released.

Couch, perched atop a cliff’s ledge, used an AR-15 to shoot into cars on Interstate 75 in Laurel County near London on the early evening of September 7, shortly after texting a woman to say he was going to try to “kill a lot of people” and then “kill myself afterwards,” authorities said.

Five people were treated at hospitals for gunshot wounds. The gunfire moved authorities to shut down the highway for hours and spurred a manhunt that would prompt temporary school closures and investigators’ pleas for nearby residents to avoid the wilderness.

The body was found in the vicinity of I-75’s Exit 49 in Laurel County, some 10 miles northwest of London and not far from the shooting site, state police said Wednesday. Earlier, authorities had said they found a vehicle registered to Couch on a forest service road off Exit 49, with an empty gun case inside.

Investigators still haven’t announced a motive in the shooting.

“I really wish that we could have located … Couch … alive. We could have asked him what his intentions were,” Laurel County Sheriff John Root said at Wednesday’s news conference. “We could have put him through the courts. … I’d rather he’d been alive, and he could have paid for what he’d done.”

Civilian couple will get a reward, police say

While troopers were searching, sounds of voices in the area led them to the civilian couple, who also were looking for Couch, Burnett said.

Burnett did not elaborate on the couple’s purpose, or address authorities’ earlier warning to people to stay away from the area.

Still, Root offered praise for the couple.

“Hey, congratulations. We’re proud,” he said about the pair. “Our one goal was to have this guy recovered.”

Burnett said the couple will receive a $15,000 reward from Laurel County Crime Stoppers and a $10,000 reward from a private donor.

Travelers were hit with a hailstorm of bullets

The shooting rampage began around 5:30 p.m. on September 7 about 9 miles north of London. Bullets showered down on the interstate, puncturing cars, hitting five travelers and causing confusion among others who heard the noise but didn’t immediately know what it was.

Some injuries were severe, with one victim shot in the face and another across the chest, authorities said.

Though responding officers couldn’t immediately find the shooter in the vast, densely wooded area near the highway, in less than a day they named a suspect – Couch, of Kentucky – having found his car not far away, near the service road off Exit 49, as well as the AR-15 they believed he used.

Investigators soon learned information they said further linked him to the shooting, including text messages.

Before the shooting began, Couch texted a woman: “I’m going to kill a lot of people, Well try at least,” according to a warrant for his arrest.

Later, less than half an hour before the shootings, Couch sent another message, according to the arrest warrant: “I’ll kill myself afterwards.”

The woman called 911 after receiving the texts and later showed police screenshots of the interaction, according to the warrant.

Also, the day of the shooting, Couch bought an AR-15 with a sight and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, paying almost $3,000 in total, the arrest warrant said. According to the sheriff’s office, Couch made the purchases legally. The warrant charged him with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault, Jackie Steele, commonwealth attorney for Laurel and Knox counties, told CNN.

Police said they hoped constant pressure and an intense search effort that involved drones, helicopter, dogs and dozens of officers would lead to the suspect’s capture.

The manhunt sent searchers trudging through the colossal forest that spans 21 Kentucky counties, roughly an area larger than Los Angeles and New York City combined.

Officer used machetes to slice through the think brush while searching terrain that included sinkholes and caves.

The shooting and manhunt left the communities in the area on edge.

More than a dozen local school districts and several private schools canceled at least one day of classes last week while some businesses in Laurel County locked their doors, Root, the sheriff, said. And police urged residents to avoid hiking and hunting in the forest.

Root’s top priority has been the safety of residents, he said Wednesday.

“We’ve had school cancelations. We’ve had church cancelations. People have been in fear.  That’s not the normal here in Laurel County. So now that this has been discovered, I hope that our county can get back to what’s normal,” Root said.

Root said Couch’s family worked with authorities throughout the investigation and search for him.

The I-75 shooting marked at least the second interstate highway shooting in one week.

Five people were wounded by gunfire and another person was hit by flying glass in Washington state after a series of shootings along I-5 in Seattle and Tacoma areas.

At least 397 mass shootings have taken place so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as those in which four or more victims are shot. That’s an average of more than 1.5 mass shootings every day.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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