LONDON, Ky. (AP) — More than a dozen school districts shut down classes Monday across a wide swath of southeastern Kentucky as a grueling search stretched into a third day for a gunman who opened fire on an interstate highway and wounded five people over the weekend.
Administrators in Rockcastle County, just north of where the shooting took place, told the school community they decided to close classes while the shooter is still at large “out of an abundance of caution.”
“As always, the safety of our students and our staff is our Number One priority, “ the school district said in a social media message.
To the south of Laurel County, where the shooting took place, schools were also closed in Knox County “as a precautionary measure to ensure student and staff safety,” the district said in a social media message. Classes also were cancelled at three regional college campuses.
Fog temporarily delayed resumption of the search Monday morning, state police said.
Authorities vowed to keep up a relentless pursuit of the gunman as the stress level remained high for residents and law enforcement officers.
Searches have been combing through a rugged, hilly area of southeastern Kentucky since Saturday evening, when a gunman began shooting at drivers on Interstate 75 near London, a small city of about 8,000 people about 75 miles south of Lexington.
“We’re not going to quit until we do lay hands on him,” Laurel County Sheriff John Root said Sunday night.
Joseph A. Couch, 32, was named first as a person of interest and later as a suspect in the shooting after authorities said they recovered his SUV on a service road near the crime scene. They later found a semi-automatic weapon nearby that they believe was used in the shooting, said Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, a spokesperson for the local sheriff’s office.
Laurel County Attorney Jodi L. Albright said Sunday night that no tip from the public is too small and that Couch “will be brought to justice, and justice will be served.”
“That tip may be the tip that solves the case and brings him to justice,” Albright said.
But Albright also acknowledged the vastness of the search area.
“He could be there for a long time, if he’s still alive,” Albright said, adding, “I understand that people are afraid. I get that.”
Capt. Richard Dalrymple of the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said authorities are doing everything they can.
“The longer we continue, and the more area we clear and the more places we are sure he is not, the safer people are going to be,” he said. “And I’m confident eventually we’ll figure it out and we’ll find him.”
