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State police say Laurel mass shooting suspect still at large

State police and other law enforcement agencies continue to search for alleged mass shooter Joseph A. Couch, but say the rugged terrain in the National Boone National Forest is slowing that effort.
Laurel County Sheriff's Office
State police and other law enforcement agencies continue to search for alleged mass shooter Joseph A. Couch, but say the rugged terrain in the National Boone National Forest is slowing that effort.

Mid-afternoon Monday, Kentucky State Police said they’re still searching for the man accused of a mass shooting on Interstate 75 in Laurel County Saturday. State Trooper Scottie Pennington said the multi-agency search continues for 32-year-old Joseph A. Couch, but very rough terrain is slowing that effort.

“We have cliff beds, we have sinkholes, we have caves, we have culverts that go under the interstate. We have creeks and rivers and the dense brush.”

Couch, a former Army reservist, is accused of firing at least 20 shots at motorists on I-75, striking a dozen cars and wounding five people, none fatally. Pennington said they’ll continue the search indefinitely, but hope he’ll turn himself in peacefully.

“We hope that we've got him contained, but we all know they don't always end that way.”

According to the Laurel County Sheriffs Department, Couch called friends Saturday and said he was going to kill a lot of people.

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John McGary is a Lexington native and Navy veteran with three decades of radio, television and newspaper experience.
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