Residents living near where a gunman opened fire on a Kentucky highway are taking precautions they never thought would be needed in their rural region, as searchers combed the woods Tuesday hoping to find the suspect, Joseph Couch, the Associated Press reports. As the search stretched into a fourth day, there is nothing to suggest he slipped away, said Master Trooper Scottie Pennington, a spokesman for the state police’s London post. Less than 30 minutes before he shot 12 vehicles and wounded five people, Couch sent a text message vowing to “kill a lot of people,” authorities allege in an arrest warrant. “I’m going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least,” Couch wrote in the text message, according to the warrant affidavit obtained by The Associated Press. In a separate text, Couch wrote, “I’ll kill myself afterwards,” the affidavit says. The affidavit does not describe the relationship between Couch and the woman who received the texts, but the Lexington Herald-Leader identified her as his ex-wife.
Several area school districts remained closed Tuesday while a few others shifted to remote learning. Brandi Campbell said her family has gone to bed early and kept the lights off in the evenings since five people were wounded in the attack Saturday on Interstate 75 near London, a city of about 8,000 people roughly 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Lexington. “We go home and lights go off, and we go upstairs and our doors stay locked,” she said. Donna Hess, who lives 10 miles from the shooting scene, said she hasn’t let her children go outside to play since the shooting. “I’m just afraid to even go to the door if somebody knocks,” she said.
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