With the I-75 shooter still at large, students stay home for a week as police urge residents to avoid some outdoor activities

(CNN) — Thousands of tips have poured in from several states. But the man accused of raining bullets onto Interstate 75 in Kentucky keeps evading capture – prompting more school closures and a plea for nearby residents to avoid the wilderness.

The manhunt for Joseph Couch, 32, enters a seventh day Friday as authorities scour the vast, rugged wilderness of the Daniel Boone National Forest in eastern Kentucky.

Couch is accused of wounding five people from afar with an AR-15 rifle shortly after texting a woman to say, “I’m going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least.”

“This is an individual we believe is still armed (and) would be very difficult to spot,” Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. “We want to make sure that we don’t lose anybody throughout this.”

Authorities have been grappling with treacherous terrain, including sinkholes and caves. The brush is so thick, officers must use machetes to slice through it.

The colossal forest spans 1,106 square miles – an area larger than Los Angeles and New York City combined.

“This is thousands and thousands of acres where Mr. Couch could have went. And we have no evidence at this time that Mr. Couch has left there,” Kentucky State Police Master Sgt. Scottie Pennington said.

“We would like you – if you’re in that area – to maybe suspend your activities.”

Specifically, state police urged residents to avoid hiking and hunting in the forest as the manhunt for the suspected mass shooter prompts businesses to lock their doors to customers.

Travelers got hit with a hailstorm of bullets

The shooting rampage started around 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Laurel County, about nine miles north of London, Kentucky.

Perched atop a cliff’s ledge with an AR-15 rifle, the gunman showered bullets onto I-75, striking 12 cars, authorities said.

Five people were shot and hospitalized. Four of the wounded victims have been released from the hospital, and the fifth is expected to survive, Beshear said Thursday.

But he said there’s a dire need for blood donations. The governor and his wife donated blood Thursday and urged the public to do the same.

The bloodshed on I-75 marked at least the second wave of interstate shootings in one week. In Washington state, five people were wounded by gunfire and another person was hit by flying glass after a series of shootings along I-5 in the Seattle and Tacoma areas.

While mass shootings on interstates may seem rare, mass shootings have become a daily part of American life.

At least 389 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.

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

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

But the motive for the rampage remains a mystery.

Students miss days of school and businesses lock up with a gunman still on the loose

While searchers trudge through Daniel Boone National Forest – which spans 21 Kentucky counties – more than a dozen local school districts canceled at least one day of classes this week.

In Laurel County – where the mass shooting unfolded – students stayed home for a fifth day Friday. Laurel County Public Schools switched to virtual learning Thursday and Friday.

Some businesses are also taking precautions, such as “doing outside drive-throughs only and locking the doors,” Laurel County Sheriff John Root said this week.

No waiting period for gun sales in Kentucky

Like most states, Kentucky does not have a so-called “cooling off” period for gun buyers to wait before getting a firearm, according to the Everytown Research & Policy.

Just hours before the I-75 shootings, Couch legally purchased an AR-15 with a sight and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said.

The day after the shooting spree, authorities found an AR-15 that they believe was used in the attacks, Laurel County sheriff’s spokesperson Deputy Gilbert Acciardo said.

“It (was) in a wooded area next to the interstate, in a location that he could have shot down upon the interstate from that wooded location,” Acciardo said.

Authorities discovered a vehicle registered to Couch on a forest service road off Exit 49, with an empty gun case inside. Investigators also found several fully charged magazines.

It’s not clear how many other weapons the alleged shooter might have. But Couch should be considered armed and dangerous, the sheriff’s office said Thursday night.

A combined $35,000 in reward money is available for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter.

“We have answered thousands of (tips)” from multiple states, Pennington said. “We want those complaints to come in because we never know, the smallest little tip, what it’s going to lead to. So please … call us and give us this information.”

CNN’s Gloria Pazmino, Melissa Alonso, Andy Rose, Lauren Mascarenhas, Zoe Sottile, Emily Smith and Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.