Schools reopen as search for suspect in Kentucky interstate shooting enters 11th day
London Police Department, KY
(NEW YORK) — Schools in a Kentucky country reopened Tuesday under heavy police guard for the first time since a massive search was launched for a suspect in an interstate shooting that injured five people 11 days ago.
As the suspect, 32-year-old Joseph Couch, remained on the loose Tuesday, the Laurel County Public Schools reopened campuses to its nearly 9,000 students.
“We will not live our lives in fear,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said during a news conference Tuesday.
The school district said in a statement that the reopening plan “prioritizes the safety of our students and staff.”
“The reopening plan provides enhanced security measures for bus transportation services, school campuses and extra-curricular activities,” the school district said.
Tuesday’s search for Couch continued to focus in the thick woods of the Daniel Boone National Forest, according to the Kentucky State Police.
Both state and federal teams have combed through at least 28,000 acres of the more than 700,000-acre national forest, but have yet to find any sign of Couch, officials said.
As the search continues in the national forest, officials said they are expanding the hunt for Couch to the communities surrounding the forest.
Beshear said additional state resources are being made available to help with the ongoing search efforts.
The FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service are assisting in the search.
The search for the gunman began on Sept. 7, after police responded to reports that a dozen vehicles traveling on Interstate 75 near London, Kentucky, had been struck by gunfire, officials said.
The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said 20 to 30 shots were fired from a hillside near I-75’s exit 49.
Couch was initially named as a person of interest after deputies found his SUV abandoned on a forest road near exit 49, officials said. An AR-15 rifle Couch purchased in the hours before the shooting and investigators believe was used in the incident was also found in the woods near Couch’s vehicle along with a bag with Couch’s name written on it, officials said.
A day after the shooting, Couch was upgraded to the primary suspect. Investigators warned that Couch should be considered armed and dangerous.
In addition to searching the national forest, a tip prompted investigators this week to search a home in Laurel County, but found no evidence of Couch having been there, officials said.
Before the interstate shooting, according to the arrest warrant, a Laurel County 911 dispatcher received a call from a woman who alleged Couch texted her before the interstate shooting and “advised he was going to kill a lot of people. Well, try at least.” The text message was sent to the woman at 5:03 p.m. on Sept. 7, about a half-hour before the interstate shooting started, according to the arrest warrant.
“Couch sent another message to [the woman] that read, in part, ‘I’ll kill myself afterwards,'” according to the arrest warrant.
(NEW YORK) — The back-to-back retirements of two college quarterbacks seemingly at the start of their careers has put a spotlight again on concussions and youth sports, particularly football.
On Oct. 23, North Carolina State quarterback Grayson McCall announced on Instagramthat he would retire from the sport after being carted off the field in an Oct. 5 game that saw him lose his helmet in a hit.
“As you all know I have battled injuries my whole career, but this is one that I cannot come back from. I have done everything I can to continue, but this is where the good Lord has called me to serve in a different space,” McCall, 23, wrote alongside photos of him playing football as a young kid. “Brain specialists, my family, and I have come to the conclusion that it is in my best interest to hang the cleats up.”
Just five days later, on Oct. 28, University of Michigan quarterback Jack Tuttle announced that he too is retiring from football, also citing medical reasons.
Tuttle, a seventh-year senior, underwent surgery on his throwing arm in the offseason, according to ESPN, and then this season suffered the fifth concussion of his career.
“Unfortunately, the recent experience of enduring my fifth concussion has brought forth the painful truth: that I need to start prioritizing my health,” Tuttle, 25, wrote, in part, in an Instagram post announcing his retirement. “Throughout my college career, I’ve battled numerous injuries, culminating in this difficult choice to step away from playing the game that I love.
Both Tuttle and McCall noted that they planned to stay involved with football through coaching, with McCall writing, “I look forward to taking my passion and love for the game into the coaching space to serve and lead the next group of kids with a dream.”
Whether it’s safe for young kids to dream of playing football is a conversation starting again in the wake of the quarterbacks’ retirements, as well as the recent deaths of two youth football players.
Among youth sports, boys’ football has the highest rate of concussion, with10.4 concussions per 10,000 athlete exposures, according to a 2019 study published in the journal Pediatrics. Girls’ soccer and boys’ ice hockey followed behind with the second and third highest rates, respectively.
For kids who start playing tackle football at a young age, the concussions can start just as young. A 2018 study found that 5% of youth football players ages 5 to 14 suffer a football-related concussion each season.
And the science shows that each concussion — caused by a jolt to the head or a hit to the body — matters.
While not usually life-threatening, the effects of even a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) or concussion, can be “serious,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, causing changes to the brain that can impact a kid’s sleep, learning, behavior and thoughts.
Over time, repeated concussions can cause long-term problems with concentration, memory, balance and headaches, according to the CDC.
Chris Nowinski, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on concussion and CTE research, told ABC News that while he doesn’t know the specifics of Tuttle’s and McCall’s, it’s notable that they retired from football now, during their college careers.
“It’s important remember, you only get one brain, and when you’re playing football, you’re risking your long-term brain health,” Nowinski said. “And so you want to make sure that when you get warning signs that your brain is losing its resilience to trauma, you shut it down before it gets too bad.”
He added of Tuttle and McCall, “They’re better off finding that new passion versus running their brain to the ground and dealing with those consequences for the rest of their lives.”
Takeaways for parents and young athletes
Nowinski said he recommends that if a child is interested in playing football, they play flag or touch football instead of tackle football for as long as possible.
It’s a recommendation echoed by the CDC, which cites data showing youth tackle football players had 15 times more head impacts during a practice or game than flag football athletes.
If a child is playing tackle football, safety recommendations from the CDC include reducing the number of contact practices for teams, teaching position-specific and age-appropriate tackling and blocking skills, and strictly enforcing penalties for head hits.
Noting the importance of kids getting as few concussions as possible, Nowinski said he also encourages parents, coaches and trainers to give young athletes more than enough time to recover from a concussion.
“That means staying out longer than a week after a concussion, and potentially staying out longer than is even recommended,” he said. “And that when there are two concussions in a shorter period of time, that you take longer off.”
For young athletes hesitant to miss a game or practice, Nowinski said the takeaway message is, “The more [concussions] you get, the more you risk having to step away from your sport.”
Dr. Munro Cullum, a concussion expert and neuropsychologist from UT Southwestern’s O’Donnell Brain Institute, told ABC News that he tells parents and athletes, “If in doubt, sit it out.”
“If you have questions about how you’re doing, the line I use for a lot of young adults that I see is, ‘If you’re impaired and not functioning at your best, you can’t be the best for your team,'” Cullum said. “‘You can’t be there for your team in full strength, and therefore, you need to let people know when there’s something wrong.'”
Cullum said that parents and guardians can often be the first line of defense when it comes to identifying a concussion in their child.
“I encourage parents to educate themselves about concussion signs also because some of the changes can be very subtle,” he said. “Their behaviors may change and maybe only a parent would notice that somebody’s more sullen or they’re more anxious than they used to be.”
In some cases, symptoms of concussions may appear right away, while in others it may take hours or days after the injury for symptoms to appear.
Concussion symptoms can range from dizziness, nausea, vision problems and headaches to concentration problems, fogginess, anxiety, sadness, nervousness or changes in sleep, according to the CDC.
When it comes to knowing whether the latest concussion is one too many for an athlete, Cullum said there is no “magic number.”
“We don’t yet know how many concussions are too many or for whom,” Cullum said, adding, “It’s what’s unique about one individual versus another. There can’t really be a blanket prescription that’s right for everybody. One size doesn’t fit all.”
(BUTLER COUNTY, Pa.) — More than a dozen 911 calls from the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13 in Butler County, Pennsylvania, were released on Wednesday, reflecting moments of fear and confusion after a gunman opened fire at the outdoor rally.
“They just tried to kill President Trump,” a 911 caller reported.
“We have an emergency. We’re at the Trump rally,” another caller said.
The 15 recordings, some of which capture the sounds of chaos in the background, were released by Butler County.
The first call came in at 6:12 p.m., about a minute after shots rang out. Trump was eight minutes into his speech when the shooting began, according to officials.
“We’re at the Trump rally — gunshots,” a woman shouts above loud crowds.
“Yep, the police are on their way,” the dispatcher responds.
“You better get over here quick!” the woman says.
The gunfire killed Corey Comperatore, 50, and critically injured two other attendees, Jim Copenhaver and David Dutch.
“I have a woman on the line, her husband was shot at the Trump rally,” a dispatcher from neighboring Allegheny County reported.
Another call came from a woman who was trying to locate her husband, who, she told the call taker, had been shot and taken by paramedics.
Trump was left with a bloodied ear before a Secret Service sharpshooter killed the suspected gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The bipartisan House task force investigating the assassination attempt outlined the security failures of the U.S. Secret Service and lack of coordination with local law enforcement in an interim report released earlier this week.
The report revealed that there was “inadequate planning and coordination by the Secret Service with state and local law enforcement before and during the July 13 rally.”
The preliminary findings are based on 23 transcribed interviews with local law enforcement officials, thousands of pages of documents from local, state and federal authorities as well as testimony from a public hearing on Sept. 26, according to the task force.
The task force concluded that the attempt on Trump’s life was “preventable.”
Trump returned to the Butler site earlier this month for a rally marked by enhanced security measures around the fairground, during which he thanked the first responders and the community that rallied behind him in the wake of the assassination attempt.
ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
(PORTLAND, Ore.) — An aerial hoop artist is recovering after she fell during a Cirque du Soleil show in Oregon, according to the production.
The dramatic incident, which was captured on video, occurred at a performance of the show “KOOZA” on Saturday at the Portland Exposition Center in Portland.
The performer was seen hanging on a hoop suspended from the ceiling as it spun in circles before she fell mid-act. The audience could be heard gasping after she fell onto the ground.
The artist is “recovering and being cared for by our medical and coaching team,” “KOOZA” said in a statement on Facebook on Monday, adding that they “appreciate your concern and well wishes for our aerial hoop artist.”
“Safety is of our utmost concern, and they will be cared for until they can return to the show,” the statement continued. “We do hope you enjoyed the rest of KOOZA.”
The name of the performer was not released by the show.
Brian Goldstein, who was sitting close to the front of the audience with his two children during Saturday’s production, told ABC News the fall occurred within a half hour of the show starting.
“To see something like this is very surprising and very shocking,” he said. “It was very scary for my daughter.”
His son, Benjamin, captured the fall on video. Benjamin told ABC News he thought it was part of the show, “but then when the actors were looking surprised, I was like, oh no, this isn’t part of the show at all.”
Brian Goldstein said they were impressed with how the team responded to the incident and how the performer “maintained her composure.”
“She gave a thumbs up as she was being carried off stage, which was a great sign,” he said.
Brian Goldstein said that after a roughly 20-minute pause in the performance, a person involved with the show addressed the audience and said the artists were willing to continue, and they went on to finish the show.
“I have to give those performers kudos — to continue on and complete the show after something like that, it’s got to be difficult,” he said. “They did a phenomenal job.”
To the aerial hoop artist, he said: “We hope she knows that all of her fans are looking forward to her speedy recovery.”
According to the description on Cirque du Soleil’s website, “KOOZA” combines “acrobatic performance and the art of clowning, while exploring fear, identity, recognition and power.”
The show is scheduled to run at the Portland Expo Center through Oct. 6.
