Medical examiners have positively identified the body found near the Interstate 75 shooting in Laurel County as the suspect, Joseph Couch.Gov. Andy Beshear announced on Friday that medical examiners were able to identify the body found on Tuesday through DNA extracted from bone.Couch is accused of shooting and injuring five people on I-75 on Sept. 7.Beshear said his body was found Tuesday by Fred and Sheila McCoy, along with Kentucky State Police Troopers. Police believed it was his body at the time due to articles found with it, but were unable to identify it as him due to the nature of decomposition.KSP and law enforcement searched the Daniel Boone National Forest for 12 days before reallocating resources away from that area.An autopsy report on Thursday confirmed that Couch's cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.More background on the investigation: The suspect Couch is alleged to have opened fire on I-75 near Exit 49 around 5:30 p.m. that Saturday, hitting five people with gunfire. Three other people were injured in accidents stemming from the shooting.Police say they found his abandoned Toyota on top of a hill near a forest access road Saturday night. They then found an AR-15 they believe was used in the shooting on Sunday.The sheriff's office said Couch legally obtained the AR-15 in London that day, along with about 1,000 rounds of ammunition.Authorities said Couch had a military background."He was in the Army Reserve from March 2013 to January 2019 as a 12B combat engineer," according to a US Army spokesperson. "He was a private at the end of service. He has no deployments."Couch would have been facing five charges of attempted murder and first-degree assault, according to an arrest affidavit.According to an affidavit, Couch sent a text message before the shooting saying, "I’m going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least." The warrant affidavit also said in a separate text, Couch said, "I'll kill myself afterwards."According to the affidavit, these texts were sent at 5:03 p.m., less than 30 minutes before the shooting happened.The arrest warrant says Laurel County Dispatch received a call from a woman describing the texts from Couch saying he was going to kill people.It does not say what Couch's relationship is to the person he sent those texts to. The victimsThere were five people hit by gunfire during the shooting on Saturday.Police said on Monday that all five of the victims have injuries that are non-life-threatening.The names of the five people shot were released as part of an affidavit for Couch's arrest:Janet BoothNorma LiberiaRebecca PuryearErick TabinRenee WalkerAs of Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear said that four of the five victims have been released from the hospital. The fifth person is expected to survive as well, he said.Three others were injured in accidents resulting from the shooting.The searchLaw enforcement spent almost two weeks searching Daniel Boone National Forest for Couch before they decided to refocus outside of the woods. Due to the terrain and nature of the forest, the search was slow in order to make sure they were not missing any evidence or potential leads.The search for Couch was paused during nighttime for safety reasons.They used helicopters, drones, and K-9 units to search the woods for Couch. Also, as a result of the search, there were school closures and sporting events.Ultimately, he was found by the McCoy's, who were independently looking for Couch themselves over a period of six days. They captured the discovery on a YouTube live video, and authorities said Kentucky State Police troopers were nearby when Couch was found.

Medical examiners have positively identified the body found near the Interstate 75 shooting in Laurel County as the suspect, Joseph Couch.

Gov. Andy Beshear announced on Friday that medical examiners were able to identify the body found on Tuesday through DNA extracted from bone.

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Couch is accused of shooting and injuring five people on I-75 on Sept. 7.

Beshear said his body was found Tuesday by Fred and Sheila McCoy, along with Kentucky State Police Troopers.

Police believed it was his body at the time due to articles found with it, but were unable to identify it as him due to the nature of decomposition.

KSP and law enforcement searched the Daniel Boone National Forest for 12 days before reallocating resources away from that area.

An autopsy report on Thursday confirmed that Couch's cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

More background on the investigation:

The suspect

Couch is alleged to have opened fire on I-75 near Exit 49 around 5:30 p.m. that Saturday, hitting five people with gunfire. Three other people were injured in accidents stemming from the shooting.

Police say they found his abandoned Toyota on top of a hill near a forest access road Saturday night. They then found an AR-15 they believe was used in the shooting on Sunday.

The sheriff's office said Couch legally obtained the AR-15 in London that day, along with about 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

Authorities said Couch had a military background.

"He was in the Army Reserve from March 2013 to January 2019 as a 12B combat engineer," according to a US Army spokesperson. "He was a private at the end of service. He has no deployments."

Couch would have been facing five charges of attempted murder and first-degree assault, according to an arrest affidavit.

According to an affidavit, Couch sent a text message before the shooting saying, "I’m going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least." The warrant affidavit also said in a separate text, Couch said, "I'll kill myself afterwards."

According to the affidavit, these texts were sent at 5:03 p.m., less than 30 minutes before the shooting happened.

The arrest warrant says Laurel County Dispatch received a call from a woman describing the texts from Couch saying he was going to kill people.

It does not say what Couch's relationship is to the person he sent those texts to.

The victims

There were five people hit by gunfire during the shooting on Saturday.

Police said on Monday that all five of the victims have injuries that are non-life-threatening.

The names of the five people shot were released as part of an affidavit for Couch's arrest:

Janet Booth

Norma Liberia

Rebecca Puryear

Erick Tabin

Renee Walker

As of Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear said that four of the five victims have been released from the hospital. The fifth person is expected to survive as well, he said.

Three others were injured in accidents resulting from the shooting.

The search

Law enforcement spent almost two weeks searching Daniel Boone National Forest for Couch before they decided to refocus outside of the woods.

Due to the terrain and nature of the forest, the search was slow in order to make sure they were not missing any evidence or potential leads.

The search for Couch was paused during nighttime for safety reasons.

They used helicopters, drones, and K-9 units to search the woods for Couch.

Also, as a result of the search, there were school closures and sporting events.

Ultimately, he was found by the McCoy's, who were independently looking for Couch themselves over a period of six days.

They captured the discovery on a YouTube live video, and authorities said Kentucky State Police troopers were nearby when Couch was found.