Neighbors say Kentucky highway shooting suspect threatened them with rifle: "I'll just kill you"
Neighbors of the Kentucky man who allegedly shot five people at random on Interstate 75 over the weekend and is now the subject of a multi-agency manhunt say the suspect, 32-year-old Joseph Couch, had previously pointed his rifle at them, acted erratically and even appeared to walk in circles outdoors while holding a rifle at a property where he lived.
Couch was arrested at that home in Gray, Kentucky, back on Feb. 8 on a charge of terroristic threatening, 3rd degree. According to a uniform citation by Kentucky State Police, obtained by CBS News, the home is located about 20 miles south of Exit 49 on I-75, where the shooting took place.
The citation was filed after a neighbor called police. That neighbor told CBS News that Couch threw a rock at the family's dog, and when he confronted Couch about it, Couch allegedly pointed a loaded AR-style rifle at him and his 9-year-old child.
"He went in his house, grabbed an AR-15, pointed it at mine and my daughter's direction, said next time he would shoot me and my daughter," the neighbor said. "So, naturally, I went and filed charges on him."
The neighbor did not want to be identified by name. The charges were eventually dropped after he failed to show up to court hearing.
"They dismissed it because they never notified me that there was a court date," he said, adding that he said he believes authorities should have taken Couch's weapons away.
"He's threatened more than one person with a firearm in this neighborhood," he said.
Following the incident, he said three family dogs were found dead on his property; two had been poisoned.
Another neighbor, Donald Causey, 61, said he had a good relationship with Couch until earlier this year when his demeanor appeared to change. Causey said things escalated last week when Couch allegedly pulled a rifle on Causey for walking near his property.
"He went back in his house, and he came back out and he pointed his rifle and said 'I'll just kill you,'" Causey said.
Causey says he did not contact police, since the two had gotten along in the past, but now regrets not doing so given the I-75 shooting.
"This spring we got a long great — I let him borrow my lawn mower a couple times," he said, adding that something appeared to change and Couch appeared to be struggling with his mental health. "If you talk to him 15 seconds you can tell."
At one point during their recent encounter, Causey said he went home to deescalate things but Couch came back out with his rifle.
"He put it up on his shoulder like he was marching, and he went around his house about 50 times in a circle," Causey said. "...He just started marching like he never spoke to us or nothing."
According to an arrest warrant obtained by CBS News, just minutes prior to the I-75 shooting on Saturday, police say Couch sent a text message saying "I'm going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least," and another message saying "I'll kill myself afterwards." The affidavit said that the woman who received the text messages called a dispatcher to report them.
Couch is charged with five counts each of criminal attempt to commit murder and first-degree assault for the shootings, which wounded five people.
Since Saturday, searchers have been combing through thousands of acres looking for Couch in a rugged area of southeast Kentucky, including in and around the Daniel Boone National Forest.
The reward for information leading to Couch's arrest went up to $35,000 Tuesday, CBS Louisville, Kentucky affiliate WLKY reported. Five thousand dollars of it would come from Kentucky State Police, $20,000 from two private donors and the remaining $10,000 from the United Way of Laurel County, its executive director announced in a Facebook post.