LOUISVILLE, Ky. — “I’m going to kill a lot of people.”
It was a text message a woman alerted police to hours before a Kentucky man shot five motorists randomly on a rural stretch of I-75 near Laurel County.
The search for Joseph Couch entered its third day on Monday with no signs of the suspected shooter’s whereabouts.
Kentucky State Police are now offering a $5,000 reward for his capture.
"I feel like a whole new level of fear has been unlocked because now you're just driving down the highway and something like this happens," Christina DiNoto said. She believes one bullet hit a truck travelling alongside her while she took I-75 south, returning from her hometown. "Then the bullet ricocheted and hit my rim and splattered the paint on my vehicle."
Teacher Larry Lee took the time off to check on his Pour Boys restaurant after a lackluster NFL Sunday for the sports lounge.
"You just want everybody to try and keep their routine if you can and just get out, but there's just a lot of scared people here," he said.
The Laurel County town doesn't know when the hunt will end, and neither does KSP.
"Hopefully he'll eventually just walk out of the woods and give himself up," Kentucky State Police Master Trooper Scottie Pennington said. "That's what we hope will happen."
Until then, other troopers continue searching with dogs, drones and helicopters.
For people who live near the search area, state police want neighbors to keep a lookout and check on each other.
Rock Bottom Soap manager Kazzi King knows that's part of the county's culture.
"It's new, but it's not anything that we can't get past," King said.
Locals helped when a call went out for food donations for the first responders working this case.
"Not an hour later, they're like 'hey we have too much food. Please don't bring anymore today, maybe tomorrow,'" King said. "Our community really does always show up and show out for any help that anybody needs."
How did we get here?
Forty-eight hours have passed since the terrifying ordeal and police have been using every method -- drones, helicopters and patrols -- in hopes of finding and apprehending Couch.
The shocking incident has left the London community on edge.
“We hope that he's still in that area. We hope that we've got him contained but we all know they don't always end that way, so we're going to continue if our search gets broader, it gets wider [and] it leads to more miles,” Pennington said. “We're going to go every day to try to find him."
The investigation has not uncovered a possible motive.
In an affidavit obtained by WHAS11 News, a woman contacted police about Couch saying he was “going to kill a lot of people” prior to the shooting.
Police immediately placed an emergency cell site tracker on Couch’s cell phone and located it about 2,500 meters of a cell tower on Exit 49.
Around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, emergency dispatchers told police of multiple people being shot on the interstate near Exit 49. First responders helped get four of the victims to the hospital while a fifth arrived by private means.
Those victims are still hospitalized and were in stable condition with "very serious" injuries.
A London gun shop told police hours later Couch had purchased a Cobalt AR-15 and ammunition the day of the shooting along with 1,000 rounds of ammunition, paying $2,914.40 for the merchandise.
As the investigation developed, police interviewed the woman who originally warned them about Couch’s threat. She provided a screenshot to investigators of the text thread message Couch shared with her that read, “I’m going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least.” He then sent a follow up message with “I’ll kill myself afterwards.”
WHAS11 is not sharing the woman's name to protect her identity.
The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office believes Couch sent this message more than 20 minutes before shots rang out on the interstate.
The Sunday search revealed Couch's vehicle in view of I-75. Police also discovered a green Army-style duffle bag with "Couch" written on it along with several magazines of .223 caliber/5.56 mm ammunition and numerous spent shell casings. His AR-15 was also found with several additional magazines.
Couch previously served in the Army Reserves.
Authorities still believe Couch acted alone in the shooting.
Law enforcement agencies still have a challenge ahead of them in finding Couch. The area around that stretch of interstate is one of the most remote locations throughout the state because of it being hilly and heavily wooded.
They are still urging people to use caution and to stay away from the area because police believe Couch could be "armed and dangerous."
If you have information on Couch's whereabouts, you are asked to call the Laurel County Sheriff's Department at (606) 878-7000 or 911.
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