LONDON, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear and law enforcement officials updated the public on the six-day-long manhunt Thursday for a dangerous suspect accused of shooting several people on a busy interstate in east Kentucky last weekend.
Beshear visited the shaken Laurel County community Thursday morning for the first time since police say Joseph Couch fired an AR-15 at several cars near London, wounding five people. London is about 75 miles south of Lexington.
"We are one community and we are horrified by the act that occurred here," Beshear said. "This is not who we are, this is not who Laurel County or the city of London is."
Investigators believe Couch used an AR-15 he purchased that same day to fire down at cars from a ledge bordering Daniel Boone National Forest overlooking the interstate.
Less than 30 minutes before, the Laurel County Sheriff's Office received a tip about a text Couch sent saying he would "kill a lot of people."
"This was an individual who appears to have been...focused on causing harm to other human beings," Beshear said. "When you put a plan in place to take the lives of our fellow human beings and try to take as many of them as possible, you can and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Despite Couch's alleged intent to kill people, Beshear said during the news conference that four of the five shooting victims have been released from the hospital and the last victim is expected to also survive.
"We haven't lost anyone yet from the shooter and we want to make sure we don't lose anyone going forward," Beshear said.
Beshear expressed concern during the press conference that this shooting suspect may have confused infamy for fame.
"There is no notoriety. There is no celebrity in committing an act like this," he said. "There's just evil.
"This is one person who chose to do wrong, who chose to do evil and because of him there's both five people who are injured and a community that has been through a lot, that's been through trauma."
Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett said there are "no significant updates at this time" when it comes to the search for Couch.
However, police officers continue to follow up on leads and they are expanding the search area within the forest.
Investigators are using surveillance, intelligence, ATVs, moving patrols, nighttime aircrafts with thermal imaging and cadaver canines, and the FBI brought in a bloodhound team from Illinois to assist in the search.
"We are using every single possible entity that we can to bring this to a successful conclusion for his capture," Burnett said.
If law enforcement don't find Couch in the coming days, police officials say they will expand the search area. However, Burnett said law enforcement will never give up.
"We will keep working until we exhaust every single lead that we have in that area," Burnett said.
One of the reasons law enforcement believe Couch hasn't been apprehended yet is the treacherous, rugged terrain of the search area. Earlier this week, Laurel County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Dep. Gilbert Acciardo said the area where the shooting occurred is one of the most remote locations in The Commonwealth.
"That exit along I-75 is probably the most remote throughout Kentucky," he said. "It's wooded, it's heavily wooded. It's got hills, it's got rocks. There's one business there, there's very few residences. It's remote and it's difficult."
State and police officials believe Couch is alive and still armed in the area and community members in Laurel County have expressed fear while he remains at-large.
"We understand there is a fear in the community," Burnett said. "We have teams out there right now scouring the area."
Local law enforcement are going to great lengths to make the Laurel County community feel safer, including stationing uniformed police officers at every Friday night high school football game.
Not only is this community being affected now by the uncertainty of this manhunt, but it was also devastated by floods two years ago.
"This is one strong community that's been through a lot recently, historically, and I know we'll be able to push through it and come out the other side," Beshear said. "These are tough challenges but this area is filled with the very toughest of people."
Beshear aimed to unify and empower people in Laurel County and across Kentucky during his address on Thursday.
"Kentuckians are doing what we do best. We are coming together and we're helping our fellow neighbors," Beshear said.
The governor had the following message for people affected by the violence of the I-75 shooting:
"We show up for each other all over this Commonwealth, and the rest of the Commonwealth wants you to know they care about you," Beshear said. "They love you, they're standing with Laurel County, with London, and the whole region.
"Your state stands with you and we are ready, willing and able to provide additional resources to hopefully get back to that transition of everyday life."