On Tuesday, law enforcement officials scaled back on their search to focus on increasing their presence in nearby residential areas.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The search for a man accused of opening fire on vehicles and injuring five people on a Kentucky highway stretched into its 11th day on Tuesday as authorities pivoted their focus from the woods to surrounding communities.

Authorities said the suspect, identified as Joseph Couch, 32, shot at motorists on Interstate 75 in southeastern Kentucky on Sept. 7 — hitting a dozen vehicles and wounding five people. The shooting spree spurred a massive manhunt that sprawled 28,000 acres of rugged, dense forest, and utilized helicopters, drones, and on-the-ground search techniques.

But on Tuesday, law enforcement officials scaled back on the search to focus on increasing their presence in nearby residential areas. While Kentucky State Police will lead the search effort at Daniel Boone National Forest, which spans more than 700,000 acres and 21 Kentucky counties, the agency will withdraw its personnel and use aircraft and cameras throughout the forest.

“On day 11, we know that bringing the boots on the ground from the forest into the communities is going to give the best reassurance to our citizens that if he’s still out there, we are right here with you — where you go to school, where you go to church — in the communities with a significantly enhanced presence,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at a news conference Tuesday.

Beshear noted that reallocating resources into the community will provide a “better public safety outcome.” Since the shooting, Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. said police have received more than 400 tips with a majority of the tips pointing to outside of the forest.

State and local law enforcement will bolster patrols on roadways and increase security at local schools, bus routes and sporting events, according to Burnett.

“We know that people are scared,” Beshear added. “The goal is for the community — even with it being kind of scary — to get back to day-to-day life, and the best way we make that transition is a saturation, or even an oversaturation, of law enforcement.”

What happened in the Kentucky highway shooting?

Laurel County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched around 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 7 following reports of a gunshot victim on I-75 near Exit 49 and U.S. Route 25, about eight miles north of London, a city about 75 miles south of Lexington, Kentucky. Officers discovered multiple vehicles parked on the side of the highway with broken windows and visible bullet holes when they arrived.

Authorities said 12 vehicles were found shot on both sides of the roadway and five people were injured with some “severely” wounded. All of them survived.

The shooting caused an hours-long closure of the highway as authorities searched for the suspect. The incident caused multiple counties to hunker down and schools to close.

Laurel County Public Schools returned to in-person instruction on Tuesday with enhanced security measures for bus transportation services, school campuses, and extracurricular activities, school district officials said.

Authorities located Couch’s car the night of the shooting and the next day, found an AR-15 in the wooded area near Exit 49 of the highway, along with fully loaded magazines. Authorities said at the time that the weapon may have been used in the shooting.

An employee of a nearby gun shop, Center Target Firearms, confirmed to police that Couch had purchased an AR-15 and 1,000 rounds of ammunition from the store the morning of the shooting, according to an affidavit released by the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office. The firearm discovered by police matched the description of the one Couch purchased that day.

Couch also told the mother of his child in a text message that he was planning to “kill a lot of people” less than an hour before the incident, according to the affidavit. He added that he planned to kill himself afterward.

Joseph Couch named a fugitive by U.S. Marshals

Both Beshear and Burnett acknowledged Tuesday that authorities did not have evidence or details that would lead to Couch’s arrest.

“We don’t have a conclusion,” Beshear said. “We have an individual that committed a horrific act of evil, that tried to kill numerous people, and we have not located him or brought the investigation to a close.”

The U.S. Marshals Service has named Couch a fugitive, according to spokesperson Jeremy Honaker. The Federal Fugitive Task Force, a law enforcement body focused on capturing wanted violent criminals, will provide resources to local and state agencies in the search for Couch.

Couch has been charged in the incident by Commonwealth’s Attorney Jackie Steele, the felony prosecutor for Laurel County, with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault.

Officials are offering a $35,000 reward for information leading to Couch’s arrest.

Kentucky officials are pivoting the focus of their search for Joseph Couch, the man accused of shooting five people and 12 cars on Interstate 75 on Sept. 7, away from the Daniel Boone National Forest and toward community centers, according to a Kentucky State Police news release issued Tuesday.

The announcement comes 10 days after the shooting occurred, which spurred a manhunt that sprawled 28,000 acres of rugged, dense forest and utilized helicopters, drones and on-the-ground search techniques. The manhunt is now called off, and law enforcement officials will focus on increasing their presence in nearby residential areas.

“In the beginning, the best way to find the suspect was in the forest. As that has become less likely over the past several days, our best plan to provide safety now is to augment law enforcement in this community to where our people are,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in the news release. “Beginning this afternoon, we will begin transitioning state and local law enforcement and agencies from a manhunt to a larger presence in the community. We stand united in this approach and our commitment to protect people of this region.”

The Kentucky State Police will continue leading the search effort in the Daniel Boone National Forest, albeit with scaled back methods, according to the release. The agency is withdrawing its personnel and will use aircraft and cameras that have been placed throughout the forest.

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office will continue leading the shooting investigation, and state and local law enforcement presence in public areas, like along roadways, at schools and at sporting events, will increase.

“This will include moving patrols onto roadways, increasing security and visibility at local schools and bus routes and increasing the presence of law enforcement at local sporting events,” Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. said in the release. “We feel the best way to prioritize community safety is to use technology and aircraft while transitioning the bulk of our state and local law enforcement resources out of the forest and into our communities.”

U.S. Marshals consider Couch a fugitive

The U.S. Marshals Service is considering Couch a fugitive, spokesperson Jeremy Honaker said in the release. The federal fugitive task force, a law enforcement body focused on capturing wanted violent criminals, will continue to provide resources to local and state agencies in the search for Couch.

Couch, 32, was identified by Laurel County officials as a person of interest in the I-75 shooting the night of the incident. He was named a suspect a day later.

He’s been charged in the incident by Commonwealth’s Attorney Jackie Steele, the felony prosecutor for Laurel County, with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault.

Officials are offering a $35,000 reward for information leading to Couch’s arrest.

What happened in the London shooting?

Laurel County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched around 5:30 p.m. Sept. 7 following reports of a gunshot victim on I-75 near Exit 49 and U.S. Route 25, roughly eight miles north of London. Officers noticed multiple vehicles parked on the side of the highway with broken windows and visible bullet holes when they arrived. Twelve vehicles were found shot on both sides of the roadway and five individuals were injured — all of them survived.

The shooting caused an hours-long closure of I-75 as the search for a suspect commenced.

Authorities located Couch’s car, a silver SUV, the night of the shooting. On the afternoon of Sept. 8, police found an AR-15 in the wooded area near Exit 49 of I-75, along with fully loaded magazines. Authorities said at the time that the weapon may have been used in the shooting.

An employee of a nearby gun shop, Center Target Firearms, confirmed to police that Couch had purchased an AR-15 and 1,000 rounds of ammunition from the store the morning of the shooting, according to an affidavit released by the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office. The firearm discovered by police matched the description of the one Couch purchased that day.

Couch also told the mother of his child via text that he was planning to “kill a lot of people” less than an hour before the incident, according to the affidavit. He added that he planned to kill himself afterward.

Mike and Laurie McAbee from the Dallas area fulfilled their bucket-list item of attending a race day at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 1. They said the experience exceeded expectations.

“It’s the atmosphere. It’s the combination of down-home friendly, Kentucky friendly, but it’s also some of the best horses in the country,” Mike McAbee said. “When you’re a big racing fan, to see the horses and the people up this close, this is an opportunity you don’t get anywhere else. We’ll be back, definitely.”

Whether people attended in person or watched and wagered at simulcast outlets or online accounts, Kentucky Downs’ popularity kept up its growth.

Kentucky Downs’ seven-day meet that ended Wednesday again set records for wagering and purses paid out to horse owners for the 12th straight year. 

Purses totaled $34,624,472 for 76 races, including $13.6 million from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund available only to registered Kentucky-bred thoroughbreds. That reflects an increase of 38 percent over last year’s total purses of $25.06 million paid out for 76 races. Sixteen of the 18 stakes-winners were foaled in Kentucky, taking full advantage of the KTDF funding.

All-sources wagering totaled $90,181,408, up 8 percent over last year’s $83,640,261. In the six meets with the ownership group headed by Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone at the helm, total betting has increased 148 percent. While that reflects going from five days in 2018 to the current seven days, the per-day average has gone from $7.28 million for five days to the $12.88 million daily average this year.

The signature Saturday Sept. 7 card—this year packaged as the FanDuel TV U.S. Open Turf Championships featuring six graded stakes paying out $2 million apiece to Kentucky-breds and $1 million to others—attracted track-record betting of $21,184,941.

The average field size was 10.89, horses per race, up from the 10.42 last year that led America, and Kentucky Downs’ highest average since 2019.

“We are extremely happy with the results of the meet,” said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs’ Vice President for Racing. “We continue to see positive growth in every metric we look at, and l am already excited for next year’s meet.”

International star Frankie Dettori, riding for the first time at Kentucky Downs, won eight races, one fewer than meet-leaders Irad Ortiz Jr. and Tyler Gaffalione. Four of those were stakes, including the meet’s new signature race the $3.1 million DK Horse Nashville Derby on British invader Bellum Justum and sweeping the pair of closing-day stakes. That ballooned his mounts’ earnings to $3.86 million, topped only by Ortiz’s $4.1 million.

“Listen, it’s amazing,” Dettori said during the meet. “There’s a great incentive to the owners, a great incentive to the European horses to come over. Great incentive for the turf horses in America to race for this kind of money. … I am very pro what they have done here at Kentucky Downs.”

Kentucky Downs’ winning owners have said for years that the big purses give them more bankroll to reinvest at the Keeneland September yearling sale. Horsemen say the track is making turf pedigrees more popular.

“Grass horses are definitely more appealing now,” said trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. “With Kentucky Downs’ purses, it can make the horse’s career. … It’s a huge plus.”

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