The manhunt for suspected Kentucky shooter Joseph Couch has entered its fourth day as investigators frantically comb through thousands of acres of woods in search of the alleged gunman.
Couch, 32, has evaded capture since Saturday, after he allegedly used an AR-15 to shoot at unsuspecting drivers on Interstate 75, near London, Kentucky, according to the FBI.
Twelve vehicles were shot at, resulting in the non-fatal injuries of five shooting victims, said authorities, according to the Associated Press.
Three more victims were injured as a result of car accidents, WLKY-TV reported.
Couch has since been charged with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault, prosecutors said, CNN reported.
Detectives said Couch ditched his vehicle and the rifle he allegedly used near a forest access road the same day of the shooting.
"It's kind of like a jungle," Kentucky State Police spokesperson Scottie Pennington told CNN Monday of the challenges they're up against during their massive search effort.
"He couldn't have picked an area that is any more remote and difficult for us to try to locate him," Laurel County Sheriff's Deputy Gilbert Acciardo told the network in an interview a day prior. "That exit along I-75 is probably the most remote throughout Kentucky. It's wooded. It's heavily wooded. It's got hills. It's got rocks."
It's been revealed that the he sent haunting text messages only 30 minutes before the shooting promising that he was "going to kill a lot of people".
Laurel dispatch had received a call from a woman who said that Couch, 32, had sent her a text indicating that he intended to kill alot of people, according to WKYT.
Investigators interviewed that woman who called dispatch on Sunday and she presented a screenshot of the text, in part, "I'm going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least."
There was another message that was sent to her that said, "I'll kill myself afterwards ..."
Couch previously served in the National Guard. It's unclear what survival skills he may have picked up during that time.
"He was in the Army Reserve from March 2013 to January 2019 as a 12B combat engineer," U.S. Army spokesperson said, according to WLKY. "He was a private at the end of service. He has no deployments."
Prosecutors said Couch was charged with terroristic threatening earlier this year, but the charges were dismissed.
A motive in the weekend shooting remains under investigation.
