A Woodbine man, who allegedly shot five people on I-75 in northern Laurel County late Saturday afternoon, bought a Cobalt AR-15 rifle with a Holosun sight mounted on it and 1,000 rounds of ammunition legally from a London gun dealer Saturday morning.
About half an hour before the shooting, he allegedly texted his intention to “kill a lot of people” before killing himself to a woman who reported the threat to police, according to a court document and information from authorities involved in the case.
Laurel County Sheriff’s deputies obtained an arrest warrant for Joseph A. Couch, 32, Monday morning charging him with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault in connection with the incident.
According to the affidavit for the arrest warrants, the following is a brief time line of events as they unfolded early Saturday evening near the 49-mile marker of I-75.
• 5:03 p.m., Couch allegedly texted a woman with the message, “I’m going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least.” He then allegedly texted another message to her that read, “I’ll kill myself afterwards…,” according to the affidavit for his arrest warrants.
Prior to the shooting, the woman called London-Laurel E-911 dispatch center to warn them about the message Couch had allegedly sent her.
Pursuant to this report, Detective Elbert Riley initiated an emergency cell site tracker on Couch’s cell phone.
• 5:27 p.m., London-Laurel E-911 received complaints about multiple people shot on I-75 near Exit 49 in Laurel County.
Responding officers reported at least four victims on and around I-75 at the 49-mile marker with gunshot wounds. A total of four victims were transported from the scene to the hospital. A fifth victim arrived by personal vehicle at St. Joseph London. All five had been shot while traveling south on I-75.
The victims have been identified in the affidavit as Rebecca Puyear, Norma Liberia, Renee Walker, Janet Booth and Erick Tavin. All five shooting victims are expected to recover.
• 6:53 p.m., the emergency cell site tracker receives the first location for Couch’s phone, which places the phone within 2,500 meters of the cellular tower on Exit 49 on Cromer Ridge.
• 7:55 p.m., officers located a Toyota CHR in the Cromer Ridge area of Laurel County adjacent to I-75. Records confirmed that the vehicle was registered to Couch.
• 8:41 p.m., a representative from the store, which sold Couch the weapon and ammunition, informed law enforcement with information about Couch’s purchase earlier that day, which totaled $2,914.40 for the entire sale.
The next day, law enforcement conducted a search of the area adjacent to the location where Couch’s vehicle was found, which had a view of I-75.
Officers discovered a green army style duffle bag, several magazines of .223 caliber/5.56 mm ammunition, and numerous spent shell casings. A short distance from this discovery, officers located a Cobalt AR-15 with a Holosun sight mounted to it and several additional AR-15 magazines. An examination of the duffle bag revealed it had “Couch” handwritten in black marker on the bag.
Laurel County Sheriff’s Public Affairs Officer Gilbert Acciardo said it is his understanding that the woman Couch texted the threat to Saturday was his girlfriend.
Acciardo also said that unlike some states, Kentucky has no mandatory waiting period to purchase a firearm. He said anyone can go into a store in Kentucky and purchase a firearm that same day provided they have the proper documentation and can pass the background check.
