LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Police are still searching for a suspect after a shooting on Interstate 75 in Laurel County last week.
Joseph Couch, 32, shot 12 vehicles and wounded five people around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, according to police.
On Sunday, law enforcement officers searched an area near where Couch’s vehicle was found, with a view of I-75. There, they found a green Army-style duffel bag, ammunition and numerous spent shell casings, the affidavit says. A short distance away, they found a Colt AR-15 rifle with a site mounted to the weapon and several additional magazines. The duffel bag had “Couch” hand-written in black marker.
If Couch is caught, he could face a long list of charges related to the shooting.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said his office has detectives on the ground there, but he supports Laurel County Commonwealth's attorney office to make the decision on charges.
"We will bring justice," Coleman said. "We stand ready, from our detectives on the investigation side to our special prosecution's team, we stand ready to assist him in making those charging decisions. I reached out to him in the early hours after this happened, offering the support of the attorney general's office, and he knows we will be a good partner as he makes those decision."
Jackie Steele is the 27th Judicial Commonwealth Attorney for Knox and Laurel counties.
KSP has brought in dozens of troopers from across the state to assist in the search. Searchers have been combing through an expansive area of rugged and hilly terrain near where the shooting occurred north of London.
Couch most recently lived in Woodbine, a small community about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of the shooting scene. An employee of a gun store in London, Center Target Firearms, informed authorities that Couch purchased an AR-15 and 1,000 rounds of ammunition hours before the shooting, the affidavit said.
Authorities in Kentucky said Monday that Couch was in the Army Reserve and not the National Guard, as officials initially indicated. The U.S. Army said in a statement that Couch served from 2013 to 2019 as a combat engineer. He was a private when he left and had no deployments.
Couch fired 20 to 30 rounds in Saturday's attack, striking 12 vehicles on the interstate, investigators said.
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