In the Batman comics, the Joker is this insane criminal, who paints his face in clown make-up, has a maniacal laugh and strives to create chaos and mayhem. Something tells me that southeastern Kentucky would have been his kind of place the last few weeks.
On Sept. 7, Joseph Couch of Woodbine sent a text message to a woman that police identified as his girlfriend saying that he planned to kill a lot of people or at least try. He also texted that he was going to kill himself afterwards.
About 30 minutes later he allegedly opened fire at vehicles on I-75 from a rural, rugged area off Exit 49 in northern Laurel County. He hit 12 vehicles and shot five people, all of whom are miraculously expected to survive.
This set off a nearly two week manhunt across northern Laurel County that involved hundreds of local, state and federal officers. Finally, a couple of YouTubers found human remains last Wednesday. Late Friday afternoon, Kentucky State Police announced that DNA confirmed the body was that of Couch, who died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get much stranger, Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Stines allegedly shot 54-year-old District Judge Kevin Mullins inside the judge’s office Thursday afternoon.
What in the world is going on? In my more than three decades as a professional journalist, we’ve had lots of crazy stuff happen, but I don’t remember a stretch of events quite this crazy in southeastern Kentucky.
Yeah, we are used to crazy happening here periodically, but this has been off the charts. What really worries me is crazy, nutty things tend to run in cycles of three, so we may be in for some more chaos before all of this is over. (I hope not either.)
On a more serious note, I don’t know what was happening with Couch that caused him to start randomly shooting at people on the interstate. He bought the AR-15 and 1,000 rounds of ammunition that morning so apparently he at least thought about it for several hours at a minimum.
Maybe it made sense to him. I don’t think we will ever know for sure.
If you are thinking about going out and killing a bunch of people, then please stop before you hurt someone. Whatever you are hoping to accomplish, there is a better way of doing it.
If you are a student in school and bullies are torturing you, then study hard, become mega successful, hire them one day and make their lives miserable. After all success is the best revenge.
If you want to make society suffer, then don’t shoot a bunch of people. Become a politician instead. You can cause more suffering that way.
Are these overly simplistic examples? Absolutely, but they make a point.
There are other ways!
Don’t be afraid to ask for help no matter what your problem whether it is a desire to hurt other people or yourself. Know that help is out there.
September is National Suicide Prevention Month.
Among other resources, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached 24 hours a day by dialing 988. Texting and chatting with 988 is also available for people in a mental health or substance use crisis.
Please utilize this or one of many other services out there before doing something that can’t be undone.
Before I conclude this column, let me take a minute and wish my wonderful wife, Cecelia, a happy 20th wedding anniversary.
I love you and look forward to hopefully another 20 great years.
