People take precautions they never thought would be needed as search continues for I-75 highway shooter

Jittery residents living near where a gunman opened fire on a Kentucky highway are taking precautions they never thought would be needed in their rural region, as searchers combed the woods Tuesday hoping to find the suspect.

Jittery residents living near where a gunman opened fire on a Kentucky highway are taking precautions they never thought would be needed in their rural region, as searchers combed the woods Tuesday hoping to find the suspect.

Brandi Campbell said her family has gone to bed early and kept the lights off in the evenings since five people were wounded in the attack Saturday on Interstate 75 near London, a city of about 8,000 people roughly 75 miles (120 kilometres) south of Lexington.

"We go home and lights go off, and we go upstairs and our doors stay locked," she said.

Several area school districts remained closed on Tuesday while a few others shifted to remote learning as the search for Joseph Couch, 32, stretched into a fourth day.

Searchers have been combing through an expansive area of rugged and hilly terrain near where the shooting occurred north of London.

Less than 30 minutes before he shot 12 vehicles and wounded five people, Couch sent a text message vowing to "kill a lot of people," authorities said in an arrest warrant.

"I'm going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least," Couch wrote in the text message, according to the warrant affidavit obtained by The Associated Press. In a separate text message, Couch wrote, "I'll kill myself afterwards," the affidavit says.