Kentucky
What We Know So Far About the Kentucky Shooter, Still On the Loose
Authorities in Laurel County, Kentucky, are on their third day in the pursuit of Joseph A. Couch, 32, who is the lead suspect in Saturday’s shooting that injured five and shut down I-75 for three hours.
Couch reportedly fired a total of 20 to 30 rounds into both south- and northbound lanes of the interstate, hitting up to 12 cars and causing numerous collisions. On Sunday, London, Kentucky, mayor Randle Weddle told The Courier Journal that there were no fatalities but that all injured victims were in the hospital.
What happened in Laurel County on Saturday?
Around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, authorities responded to calls of an active shooter on I-75, near Exit 49 in Laurel County. According to police, Couch is believed to have been firing from a hillside that overlooked the congested road. Earlier that morning, authorities say that Couch legally purchased an AR-15 rifle and up to 1,000 rounds of ammunition in London, Kentucky, a city eight miles from Exit 49, which has a population of 7,600 and sits 75 miles south of Lexington.
Later that Saturday, authorities recovered Couch’s SUV on a service road near the scene, and on Sunday later retrieved the weapon from a wooded area, which they believe is the location from which he shot into the interstate.
Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, a spokesman for the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, told The Courier Journal that as of Sunday, all five victims are in stable condition and are expected to survive. Acciardo reported that of the five victims shot, one was shot in the face, another in the arm, and another in the chest.
Who is Joseph A. Couch?
Joseph A. Couch is a 32-year-old Kentucky native who, according to WKYT-TV, served six years in the Army reserve (some outlets had previously reported he was in the National Guard). The Laurel County sheriff’s office described him to be about 5-foot-10-inches tall and weighing around 154 pounds. Couch’s most recent address was reported to be in Woodbine, Kentucky, 20 miles south of the scene.
In February of this year, Couch was charged with terroristic threatening in Knox County after threatening his neighbor with an “AR.” The charges were later dropped.
According to authorities, Couch didn’t seem to have a particular target in mind, although they believe he strategically picked the location. The area’s rocky terrain, which is reportedly difficult to navigate, seemingly aided in his getaway, making the search difficult due to what authorities described as “walking in a jungle” because of the need for machetes to cut through the woods.
Couch is charged with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault. According to the Lexington Herald Leader, police can possibly charge him with wanton endangerment and criminal mischief for shooting into the cars of the people who were not hurt.
What’s next in the search for the alleged Kentucky shooter?
With authorities on their third day of searching, Kentucky State Police master trooper Scottie Pennington told local stations it was their recommendation for residents to stay in the house, keep their porch lights on, and monitor any security devices they may have.
School districts in the area canceled school on Monday to ensure the safety and protection of students and staff. Rolling Stone requested information from the Laurel County Board of Education on whether school will resume tomorrow. An employee from the district, who declined to share their name and title, said that the decision was pending and will be announced on Facebook.
Mayor Weddle has encouraged anyone with information to call the authorities with tips and told local news station WKYT-TV that a private donor is offering to pay $10,000 in reward for any information that leads to Couch’s arrest. Kentucky State Police are offering an additional $5,000, bringing the reward total to $15,000.
Kentucky
What channel is Kentucky vs Murray State on today? Time, TV schedule to watch Week 12 game
Kentucky football aims to snap its four-game losing streak when it plays Murray State today at Kroger Field.
The Wildcats (3-6, 1-6 SEC) have not won since their upset victory over Ole Miss in Week 5.
Kentucky leads the all-time series against Murray State, 2-0.
Watch Kentucky vs Murray State live on Fubo (free trial)
Here’s how to watch Kentucky vs Murray State game today, including time, TV schedule and streaming information:
TV Channel: SEC Network+
Livestream: Fubo (free trial)
Kentucky vs. Murray State will be broadcast nationally on SEC Network+ in Week 12 of the 2024 college football season. Tom Leach and Jeff Piecoro will call the game from the booth at Kroger Field, with Dick Gabriel reporting from the sideline. Streaming options for the game include FUBO, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 16
- Start time: 1:30 p.m.
The Kentucky vs Murray State game starts at 1:30 p.m. at Kroger Field in Lexington.
Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of today
ODDS: Not available as of this morning
O/U: Not available as of this morning
- Aug. 31: Kentucky 31, Southern Miss 0
- Sept. 7: South Carolina 31, Kentucky 6
- Sept. 14: Georgia 13, Kentucky 12
- Sept. 21: Kentucky 41, Ohio 6
- Sept. 28: Kentucky 20, Ole Miss 17
- Oct. 12: Vanderbilt 20, Kentucky 13
- Oct. 19: Florida 48, Kentucky 20
- Oct. 26: Auburn 24, Kentucky 10
- Nov. 2: Tennessee 28, Kentucky 18
- Nov. 16: Murray State
- Nov. 23: at Texas
- Nov. 30: Louisville
- Record: 3-6
- Aug. 29: Missouri 51, Murray State 0
- Sept. 7: Butler 19, Murray State 17
- Sept. 14: Murray State 59, Mississippi Valley State 8
- Sept. 28: North Dakota 72, Murray State 35
- Oct. 5: South Dakota 59, Murray State 0
- Oct. 12: Indiana State 31, Murray State 27
- Oct. 19: Illinois State 40, Murray State 32
- Oct. 26: North Dakota State 59, Murray State 6
- Nov. 2: South Dakota State 52, Murray State 6
- Nov. 9: Missouri State 59, Murray State 31
- Nov. 16: at Kentucky
- Nov. 23: at Southern Illinois
- Record: 1-9
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Reach sports reporter Prince James Story at pstory@gannett.com and follow him on X at @PrinceJStory.
Kentucky
Mark Pope says Kentucky is in “a race to see how fast we can grow”
Kentucky’s comeback win over Duke signaled to the rest of college basketball that the Cats could be legit. For Mark Pope, it was just the next step in a sprint to San Antonio.
When asked how much confidence the win over the No. 6 Blue Devils gave his players, Pope said it was further proof of how eager they are to learn about each other and grow into a squad capable of cutting down the nets in April. That’s an especially tall task for a roster that was built in a manner of months.
“Hopefully, our confidence is growing all the time,” Pope said on Thursday. “I think mostly what it gives us is we’re just hungry to grow. You’re going to be so tired of me already talking about humility and curiosity, right, but I think that’s the biggest thing. Just go play again to find out who we are how we can get better and what we can do better and how we grow. It’s a race.
“With a team that’s constructed the way this team had to be, where every single person is new, it’s just a race from our first game on Nov. 4 to hopefully the Final Four. We know we have to get so much better and there’s limited time so it’s just a race to see how fast we can grow. I think that’s the biggest thing that this game did for us, that Bucknell did for us, that Wright State did for us; it just gave us more film and data and experience to try to figure out how we can become a great team.”
For fans, the Wright State game was a storybook start to the season, with Kentucky winning by 41 points, Pope’s jersey number. The Bucknell game showed that the Cats can still put up 100 points on a night they’re not firing on all cylinders. The Duke game was the most promising sign yet, proof that they can battle back from a nine-point halftime deficit against an elite team even when the threes aren’t falling. Just three games in, that bodes very well for the future.
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Kentucky may be in a race against time, but Pope is determined to enjoy every step of it. When asked about the three 2025 recruits that signed with Kentucky this week, Jasper Johnson, Malachi Moreno, and Acaden Lewis, Pope said his current players are setting the standard for what it means to play for Kentucky under his watch.
“I’m telling you, it’s a joy to coach here, and it’s hopefully it’ll continue to be a joy for BBN to watch because we have great young men in this program. I’m talking about, like, elite-level kids, like really special people, and it’s fun. Like, you know, I’ve got to sit next to Otega [Oweh] and Andrew Carr postgame after our last game, and just listen to them answer questions and them talk about what this program is and what it means to be for them to be here. And it’s beautiful, actually. Like, it is.”
The specific moment Pope is referring to is when Otega Oweh told reporters that wearing the Kentucky jersey inspires him to play even harder for fans and his teammates. Andrew Carr, who also had some big plays down the stretch vs. Duke, echoed that sentiment, adding that the team’s close bond is a major reason why they didn’t throw in the towel when the Blue Devils were surging. After Carr finished his thought, Pope looked around the room and said, “Who gets to coach guys like this? Come on, man. It’s awesome.”
“These are kids that are seeing something way bigger than just themselves, right and they care about the right things,” Pope said yesterday. “And it just guys that I want to coach, and it’s the way this should be, and it’s guys that are going to have that are in the middle of tremendous careers, are going to have great, massive professional careers, and then go on do even more important things after that. And that’s what we’re surrounded with in our locker room right now.
“So, that’s the first thing [in recruiting]. Our filters are really high in terms of bringing in great people. We want great people here, not perfect people. Like, we all screw up and make mistakes and do things like that, but people who are actually really eagerly trying to grow as human beings, right? So that’s number one.”
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Kentucky
What do analytics have to say about Kentucky after the win over Duke?
Right before the 2024-25 college basketball season started, the analytics websites didn’t seem to have a ton of confidence in Mark Pope’s Kentucky Wildcats. This was a bit of a surprise, knowing how good of an X’s and O’s coach the Wildcats have. Big Blue Nation believed it wouldn’t take long for the analytics to see what they saw.
That was exactly the case after the win over the Duke Blue Devils, as the Wildcats are moving up the Evan Miya rankings. Kentucky currently sits 13th in these rankings with their offense ranked 16th and the defense ranked 12th. It is a bit surprising that the analytics show that Kentucky’s defense ranks higher than the offense. Not because Kentucky’s defense hasn’t been great because it has. The surprise has more to do with how great the offensive scheme is for Coach Pope.
The reason the defense being better than the offense in these analytics should excite Kentucky fans is because Kentucky fans know how good the offense is going to be. It will be in the top 20 in college basketball, without question. This means that if the defense is better, this Kentucky team is a top ten team in college basketball.
The analytics are starting to back the Wildcats, and if they are top 20 in both offense and defense all season long, this team is going to be a three-seed or better in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Pope has done something special early into his tenure as the Wildcats head coach.
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