Police shift focus from woods to road patrols in search for Kentucky interstate shooter
Police are shifting their strategy while trying to track down an interstate highway shooter in Kentucky
Authorities shifted their strategy Tuesday while trying to track down an interstate highway shooter in Kentucky, pulling searchers from the woods to bolster patrols in communities near where the gunman opened fire, hitting a dozen vehicles and wounding five people.
After searching 28,000 acres (11,331 hectares) over 11 days, authorities acknowledged they're no closer to finding the suspected gunman, 32-year-old Joseph Couch. Hundreds of law enforcement personnel were assigned to ground and air search efforts, which focused on a rugged, wooded area near London, a city of about 8,000 people roughly 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Lexington.
“We do not have any specific evidence or any details that have led us any closer to his apprehension at this time,” Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. said in an update Tuesday.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear added: “I don’t think you can definitively say he’s still in the forest, he’s outside of the forest, or that he’s still alive.” He called the shooting an “act of violence and evil” and said the plan now is to bolster security in area communities in hopes of calming fears among residents.
