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With no sign of Kentucky highway shooting suspect, officers moved to protect community as schools reopen
As a search continued into its 11th day for the suspect in a mass shooting that wounded five people on an interstate highway in Kentucky earlier this month, officials and law enforcement announced they were redirecting resources away from the manhunt and focusing instead on protecting the surrounding community.
More schools reopened Tuesday in the area around London, a town of about 8,000 people on the edge of southeastern Kentucky’s sprawling Daniel Boone National Forest, said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear at a news conference, where he confirmed the search had not yet turned up meaningful leads. In addition to schools in neighboring Rockcastle County and Whitley County that resumed classes with additional law enforcement stationed on their premises, the district where London is located also said students would return to in-person classes starting Tuesday.
Laurel County Public Schools had paused in-person classes when the manhunt got underway Sept. 7 for Joseph Couch, 32, the man identified as the suspect who shot and wounded five people as they traveled on Interstate 75. The gunman struck about a dozen vehicles when he opened fire, officials said.
The district said schools followed a remote learning model for three days before resuming normal attendance with “an increased presence of law enforcement throughout the day, monitoring all campuses and buildings in Laurel County Schools,” as well as “an increased presence of law enforcement patrol along the most rural bus routes.”
“We appreciate the support, trust, and cooperation of our families and the community as we safely return to school,” the school district said in a statement. “Laurel County Schools District administration and police department will continue communications with law enforcement and emergency agencies regarding the situation in our county. Should the need arise, we will adjust and communicate an updated plan.”
Couch has been charged with five counts of criminal attempt to commit murder and first-degree assault.
An affidavit for his arrest, obtained by CBS News, said less than 30 minutes before he opened fire on the highway, the suspect wrote in a text message, “I’m going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least.” In a separate text message, he wrote, “I’ll kill myself afterwards,” the affidavit said.
The highway shooting prompted a massive mobilization of local, state and federal law enforcement officers who probed the Boone National Forest for signs of the suspect. On Tuesday, Beshear said drones, Black Hawk helicopters and heat sensors had been deployed alongside ground search crews on ATVs to scan 28,000 acres of the dense and notoriously rugged forest, which in all spans 2.1 million acres and includes both public and private land, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Kentucky State Police Master Trooper Scottie Pennington previously likened the terrain to “a jungle.” It’s described by the forest service as encompassing forested slopes, sandstone cliffs and narrow ravines.
Two days into the search, law enforcement officers found a green Army-style duffel bag with “Couch” written on it in marker, ammunition and numerous used shell casings near the spot where Couch’s vehicle was found, according to the warrant affidavit. Nearby, they also found a Colt AR-15 rifle.
But Beshear said Tuesday that the likelihood of actually finding Couch in the forest has declined as the manhunt has drawn on.
“In other words, the odds of finding the individual in the forest are less,” he said, adding that “our best plan now is to augment law enforcement in the community.”
The governor and law enforcement officials who spoke at Tuesday’s news conference said transferring resources from the manhunt into the surrounding communities would provide a better public safety outcome and serve as a deterrent for the suspect. Personnel will still be monitoring cameras set up throughout the forest and using aircraft surveillance in that area.
“We will not live our lives in fear,” said Beshear. “We will move forward together and, yes, we will get through this together.”
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.