Victim describes I-75 shooting in Kentucky. ‘This man was out to kill.’
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Interstate 75 shooting
Several people were injured Saturday evening in shootings along Interstate 75 in Southern Kentucky near London in Laurel County
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Rebecca Puryear is facing surgery but is thankful to be alive after she was one of five people shot and seriously injured while traveling on Interstate 75 in Southern Kentucky Saturday afternoon.
Someone shot through the passenger-side window of Puryear’s 2021 Toyota Camry, hitting her in the right arm.
The bullet continued across her chest and burst into fragments when it hit the driver-side door, injuring her left arm, Puryear said.
She still had fragments in her chest Sunday, she said.
The pain from being shot wasn’t as bad as she expected, though, and she was grateful her injuries weren’t worse and that her husband and son weren’t shot.
“I’m thanking God every second of the day, said Puryear, 28. “This could’ve been so much worse.”
All five victims shot on I-75 north of London, in Laurel County, Saturday are stable. Police continue to search for a person of interest in the shooting, identified as 32-year-old Joseph Couch. Authorities shut down almost 20 miles of interstate and many side roads in the area on Saturday night while they searched for Couch, and the manhunt resumed Sunday morning.
Puryear, of Harlan County, her husband Chris and their 4-year-old son, Christian, had been to Richmond to eat at Olive Garden and then on to Lexington, and were headed home when the shooting happened.
Puryear was driving as they headed south on I-75, cruise control set on 80 mph, when they heard a noise.
“I looked at my husband and said, ‘What was that?’ He said it was gunshots. I said, ‘Oh my God!’ “ Puryear said. “Next thing I know, my ears are ringing.”
Puryear said her first thought was of whether her son and husband were hit. They had scratches from broken glass; her husband said he wasn’t bleeding but she was.
“I was just gushing the blood,” she said. “I looked at my chest and said, ‘My chest is burning.’ “
Puryear and her husband believe the shooter was on a hillside beside the interstate, given that the bullet pierced the passenger-side window.
Police said the gunman shot a total of nine cars on both sides of the road.
“This man was out to kill, and he almost did,” Puryear said.
Puryear said she was wearing a Wrangler cross-body purse. She thinks the strap across her chest with a metal piece deflected the bullet and prevented her from being injured more badly.
Puryear started to pull off the road when she was shot but her husband told her to keep going to get out of danger.
“He was like, ‘Absolutely not. Keep driving,’ “ Puryear said.
She drove about a mile down the interstate and then pulled off. Her husband had her take off her shirt and press it on the wound to try to stem the bleeding.
Chris Puryear had called 911 and sheriff’s Deputy Bobby Roberts showed up soon, crossing over the median on the interstate to reach them.
Roberts put Rebecca Puryear in the back of his cruiser and rushed her to Saint Joseph London Hospital.
She was released Saturday night but will have surgery later, Puryear said.
Police impounded her car as evidence, so friends brought another vehicle from Harlan County for her and her husband and son to get home.
“I was terrified to get back in a vehicle last night because he was still on the run,” Puryear said of the gunman.
She and her family got home by about 2 a.m. Sunday. Roberts, the deputy, messaged her about 3:30 a.m. Sunday to check on her, Puryear said.
A few hours later she said she still hadn’t been able to “wrap my head” around what happened.
“In a blink of an eye you could not be here,” she said. “I don’t want nobody else’s family to go through this.”
This story was originally published September 8, 2024 at 11:14 AM.
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