'I'll kill myself afterwards.

' That day, Couch had bought an AR-15 with a sight and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, the arrest warrant said.

According to the sheriff's office, Couch made the purchases legally.

Around 5:30 p.

m.

on September 7, Couch perched atop a cliff's ledge on the side of the interstate and used an AR-15 to strike 12 cars in Laurel County, about 9 miles north of London, authorities said.

Bullets showered down onto I-75, puncturing cars, hitting five travelers, and causing panic among others who heard the noise but didn't immediately know what it was.

Some injuries were severe, with one victim shot in the face and another across the chest, authorities said.

The shooting moved authorities to shut down the highway for hours.

Though responding officers couldn't immediately find the shooter in the vast, densely wooded area near the highway, in less than a day they named a suspect – Couch, of Kentucky – having found his car not far away, near the service road off Exit 49, as well as the AR-15 they believed he used.

Investigators soon learned information they said further linked him to the shooting, including the text messages.

The woman called 911 after receiving the texts and later showed police screenshots of the interaction, according to the warrant.

The warrant charged him with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault, Jackie Steele, commonwealth attorney for Laurel and Knox counties, told CNN.

Police said they hoped constant pressure and an intense search effort that involved drones, helicopters, dogs, and dozens of officers would lead to the suspect's capture.

The shooting and manhunt left communities in the area on edge as authorities urged residents to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings.

More than a dozen local school districts and several private schools canceled at least one day of classes last week, Root, the sheriff, said.

And some businesses also took precautions, such as 'doing outside drive-throughs only and locking the doors,' Root said.

'We've had school cancellations, we've had church cancellations.

People's been in fear, that's not the normal here in Laurel County,' Root said.

'So now that this has been discovered, I hope that our county can get back to what's normal.

'The I-75 shooting marked at least the second interstate highway shooting in one week.

Another person was hit by flying glass in Washington state after a series of shootings along I-5 in the Seattle and Tacoma areas.

At least 397 mass shootings have taken place so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as those in which four or more victims are shot.

That's an average of more than 1.

5 mass shootings every day.

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