SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – “Joseph Couch positively identified as the deceased individual found off exit 49 on September 18th, 2024,” said a late Friday afternoon Facebook post from the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky.
For more, stream KCBS Radio now.
Couch’s alleged Interstate shooting spree on Sept. 7 is one of the latest cases in a rising trend of freeway and highway attacks across the nation, according to an analysis from USA Today. This review revealed that found incidents of road-rage violence happen almost every week in the nation.
Deputies who responded to the scene found 75 cars riddled with bullet holes, said the outlet. Though five people were shot, they all survived. That incident came five days after a gunman opened fire on the I-5 highway outside of Seattle and injured several people.
“This is not acceptable. People have the right to travel safely in this state and we are going to protect that right,” said Washington State Patrol Chief John R. Batiste after the shooting. However, the USA Today report noted that law enforcement often face challenges investigating these crimes, as shooters are often unseen and can easily flee the scene.
From “young pranksters” to “heavily armed riflemen” and road rage killers, aggressive individuals are making roadways a more dangerous place for Americans, according to data and news stories reviewed by USA Today. In Washington – where the worst uptick in highway violence has been reported – state patrol data shared by Director of Communications Chris Loftis shows highway shootings are up 55% from 2019 to 2023. Federal data shows these shootings are up by about the same percentage in Texas, too.
“The numbers for road rage alone, just one segment of the highway violence problem, have risen exponentially,” the report said. “Using Gun Violence Archive’s database to analyze road rage incidents, Everytown Research & Policy found that the number of road rage injuries and deaths involving guns has increased every year since 2018. In that year, at least 70 road rage shooting deaths occurred in the United States; in 2022, the number doubled to 141, the study found.”
In Washington, Loftis said around a quarter of the highway-related violence is gang related. He said increasing numbers of guns in society increases the likelihood of shootings. Others domestic disturbances and road rage incidents.
This February, Audacy station WWJ reported on a road rage shooting along I-75 in Northern Oakland County, Michigan. Police said that a victim was driving on the freeway at around 6:20 p.m. when she encountered an aggressive driver trying to drive her off the road. He then pointed a gun at the victim and shot at her through her open passenger window before going around her, rolling down the driver’s side window and shooting her again.
“The suspect then sped away, in what the victim described as an older model passenger car,” WWJ reported.
“More cars means more potential for roadway conflict,” he explained. “More guns means greater potential for that conflict to become deadly.”
In California, the freeway killing of 6-year-old Aiden Leos by Marcus Eriz sparked outrage, said USA Today. Eriz said he carried the Glock 17 he fired because “people have been acting crazy around the freeway,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
In addition to guns, USA Today’s review found that people are also using other weapons, such as rocks, to attack drivers. It said a Colorado teen Nicholas “Mitch” Karol-Chik pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, among other charges, in May for his part in a rock-throwing spree. He allegedly threw a melon-sized rock that killed a 20-year-old woman in suburban Denver.
Last month, Audacy station KNX reported that “chilling footage” had been released of an assailant beating a woman and attempting to throw her into freeway traffic. Authorities said she was dragged across the cement freeway divider and that her injuries could result in “long-term disfigurement.”
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Data Explorer, highways, alleys and streets make up the second most common location category where violent crimes occur. Reports of these crimes have nearly doubled from 105,000 in 2019 and 135,000 in 2020 to 203,000 in 2022, according to the latest available FBI data cited by USA Today.
DOWNLOAD the Audacy App
SIGN UP and follow KCBS Radio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram