Col. Phillip “PJ” Burnett said that the body found Wednesday is believed to be Joseph Couch, of Woodbine, Kentucky.

Burnett said accessories found with the body have led them to conclude it is him.

Authorities say the body was found following a lengthy search of the rugged and hilly terrain in the area of southeastern Kentucky where the Sept. 7 attack happened.

*UPDATE*
“Kentucky State Police troopers have located a body in the vicinity of exit 49 in Laurel County and detectives are working to confirm the identity.” -Trooper Scottie Pennington

— KY State Police (@kystatepolice) September 18, 2024

Investigators were working to identify the body, state police Master Trooper Scottie Pennington said earlier in a social media post. It was located in the vicinity of the Interstate 75 exit near London, a city of about 8,000 people about 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Lexington.

The highway shootings put the rural area on edge, leading some schools to shut down and shift to virtual learning for several days as authorities warned area residents to be vigilant. Schools reopened Tuesday with extra police security in the county where the shooting happened.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has called the shootings an “act of violence and evil.”

A dozen vehicles were struck as the shooter fired 20 to 30 rounds near an interstate exit, creating a chaotic scene. Authorities rushed to the scene after being alerted at about 5:30 p.m. The five victims survived the attack but some suffered serious injuries.

After sending the text message vowing to “kill a lot of people” before the attack, Couch sent another saying, “I’ll kill myself afterwards,” investigators say in the affidavit. The document did not describe the relationship between Couch and the woman who received the texts. However, Couch and the woman have a child together but were never married, according to an attorney who handled the custody arrangement for the couple and their son born in 2016.

Searchers found Couch’s abandoned vehicle near the crime scene and a semi-automatic weapon that investigators believe was used in the shooting. An Army-style duffel bag that was found had “Couch” hand-written in marker, and a phone believed to be Couch’s also was found but the battery had been taken out.

Authorities said he purchased the AR-15 weapon and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition at a London gun store hours before the shooting.

Couch had a military background in the Army Reserve. The U.S. Army said he served from 2013 to 2019 as a combat engineer. He was a private when he left and had no deployments.

The search focused on a densely wooded area about 8 miles (13 kilometers) north of London that a state police official described as “walking in a jungle.” Aided by helicopters and drones, search teams on the ground contended with cliffs, sinkholes, caves, waterways and thick brush.

Authorities said they were inundated with tips from the public and followed up on each one. When the ground search was suspended at night, specially trained officers were deployed in strategic locations in the woods to prevent the gunman from slipping out of the area.

On Tuesday, authorities said they were pulling searchers from the woods to bolster patrols in nearby communities in hopes of calming fears among residents.

Police received more than 400 tips since the shooting, with most pointing to areas outside the sprawling forest that was the focus of the search.

The search for Joseph A. Couch, 32, who authorities described as “armed and dangerous,” continued in connection with the Saturday evening shooting on Interstate 75, 8 miles north of the small city of London.

Five people were shot and left seriously injured. The wounded were identified by the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office Monday as: Rebecca Puyear, Norma Liberia, Renee Walker, Janet Booth and Erick Tavin.

Couch has since been charged with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault in an arrest warrant.

Once he’s taken into custody, “the court processes will begin quickly with the District Court,” Jackie Steele, commonwealth’s attorney for the 27th Judicial Circuit, said in a statement to NBC News. He could face other, less serious charges in connection with the other drivers affected in the shooting, such as property damage and wanton endangerment.

A $10,000 reward is also now being offered for information on his whereabouts leading to his capture, London Mayor Randall Weddle said.

Couch had previously served in the Army Reserve and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, Weddle told NBC News correspondent Priya Sridhar on Monday.

What we know about the shooting

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office has said that the gunman in the shooting opened fire from three different perches along a ridge that looks down on the interstate. An AR-15, believed to have been used in the shooting, was found near Couch’s vehicle that was found near the scene Saturday night.

Dispatch received reports of multiple people shot on I-75 around 5:30 p.m. on Sept 7.

Just a half hour prior, Laurel dispatch had received a call from a woman who said that Couch had texted her saying he intended to kill a lot of people, an affidavit for an arrest warrant obtained by NBC News said. 

Investigators interviewed that woman who called dispatch on Sunday and she showed a screenshot of that text that read, in part, “I’m going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least.” Another message he sent to her read: “I’ll kill myself afterwards …”In the shooting, at least 12 vehicles were struck, though some didn’t realize their cars were hit until they arrived at their destinations hours away. As many as 20 to 30 rounds may have been fired, Sheriff’s Capt. Richard Dalrymple said.

All the shot victims are stable and expected to survive, officials said Sunday.

Officials said Sunday that the suspect had purchased the AR-15 and about 1,000 rounds legally at a local gun store Saturday morning. According to the affidavit, Couch paid $2,914.40 for the AR-15, a sight mounted on it and the ammo.

A gun case and several charged magazines were also found in the suspect’s SUV. Laurel County Sheriff John Root said Sunday that the suspect went through all the proper paperwork and had nothing on record that would have prevented the sale. 

An investigation into the shooting, and potential motive, now turned over to Kentucky State Police, remains ongoing.

A former Army Reservist with a relatively clean record

Couch had served in the Army Reserve from March 2013 to January 2019, as a combat engineer, a spokesperson for the Army Reserve confirmed.

“He was a private at the end of service,” the spokesperson said, noting he had no deployments.  

Family members of Couch had told investigators that he had grappled with PTSD, Weddle said Monday.

“The reports came from some of the family member of Joseph, so they’re the ones that sent that on to investigators,” he said. 

He is not a felon and has a relatively clean record that includes the March dismissal of a charge of making a terrorist threat and at least one alleged traffic violation, Steele, the prosecutor for the region, said. He’s believed to have acted alone in the shooting.

Deputies were searching for Couch in the remote woods near the scene of the shooting Sunday. 

Weddle said the terrain where he could be hiding is rugged and includes an old salt mine cave that runs very deep. 

“This terrain is some of the roughest terrain to go in. A lot of trees, a lot of vegetation,” he said. “People got to keep in mind, [Couch] has a military background. So when you hear a helicopter and it’s blacked out, he knows to hide, or he hears the thrum.”

Laurel County Public Schools said school is canceled Monday “out of an abundance of caution.”

Weddle said that he’s heard from the governor’s office and the White House, offering support.

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

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Joseph A. Couch, 32, was named a suspect in Saturday’s shootings on Interstate 75 after authorities recovered his SUV on a service road near the crime scene. They later found a semi-automatic weapon nearby that they believe was used in the shooting, said Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, a spokesperson for the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office.

The search was focused on a remote area north of London, a community of about 8,000 people, roughly 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Lexington.

“Where is he? that’s the big question right now,” Acciardo told reporters as law enforcement raced to find Couch in the heavily wooded area before darkness fell. “We’re still in there. We still feel like that he’s in there or we obviously wouldn’t be searching wholeheartedly like we are.”

The search was temporarily suspended after nightfall Sunday evening, but was set to resume early Monday morning.

“We’ve not had any luck so far, no trace so far, no information or evidence that’s at the scene to indicate that he’s there. But we believe that he’s there,” Acciardo said.

State Police Master Trooper Scottie Pennington, a spokesman for the London state police post, said additional troopers are being brought in from around the state to bolster the manhunt.

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At an evening press conference, authorities sought to reassure residents that they believe the suspect will be found.

“We’re doing everything that we can do,” said Laurel County Sheriff John Root, adding, ”Just be confident.”

Couch most recently lived in Woodbine, a small community about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of the shooting scene. Acciardo said authorities found his abandoned vehicle Saturday and then an AR-15 rifle on Sunday in a wooded area near a highway where “he could have shot down upon the interstate from.” A phone believed to be Couch’s was found by law enforcement, but the battery had been taken out.

Authorities said Couch purchased the gun and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition Saturday morning in London. Couch has a military background, having served in the National Guard for at least four years, said Captain Richard Dalrymple of the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office.

Couch was initially considered a person of interest in the case until he was upgraded to a suspect on Sunday, Acciardo said.

Authorities believe there was only one shooter. Acciardo said the shooting appeared to involve some planning but seemed to be a “random act” of violence in which no particular person was targeted. He wouldn’t speculate as to a possible motive.

Authorities were notified at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday about gunshots near the interstate’s exit 49. An individual who was “off that exit” fired multiple rounds into the northbound and southbound lanes. Authorities initially said nine vehicles were struck by gunfire, but later increased that number to 12, saying some people did not realize their cars had been hit by bullets until they arrived home. Dalrymple said the gunman fired a total of 20 to 30 rounds.

The gunman was not in a vehicle at the time of the shooting.

The wounded — one person from Kentucky and others from out of state — were hospitalized in stable condition Sunday. Some had “very serious” injuries, including one person shot in the face, Acciardo said.

Residents of Laurel County were on edge as authorities searched with a drone, helicopter and on foot in a remote and sparsely populated wooded area near the highway.

Cody Shepherd, sipping a bloody mary outdoors while waiting to watch a football game at the Pour Boyz Sports Lounge in London on Sunday, said locals were abuzz with speculation. A resident of London, he was at a party Saturday at a friend’s house about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of where the shooting occurred.

“We were listening to the police scanners all night,” he said, adding they heard sirens and saw a helicopter overhead.

On Sunday, several local churches canceled services. But Rodney Goodlett, pastor of Faith Assembly of God in London, was helping direct traffic as parishioners gathered for a morning service. He expected the search would hold down attendance.

“This is tragic, obviously, that somebody would randomly do violent acts,” he said. “You hear media things taking place all around our country, but then when it hits home, it’s a little bit of a wake-up call.”

Authorities released a photo of Couch and warned residents he was believed to be armed and dangerous.

According to Kentucky state court records, Couch was charged in February with misdemeanor “terroristic threatening.” However, the charge was dismissed when a victim failed to appear in court. In 2015, Couch was sentenced to six months in jail after being convicted of criminal mischief and unlawful transactions with a minor. Couch also has had a handful of traffic violations and a public intoxication conviction in 2020.

Acciardo said the search is dangerous for first responders and is painstaking because of thick foliage. There are “a lot of woods, a lot of cuts in the rock,” he said. “He could be hiding behind a tree and us walk right up on him.”

—

Associated Press journalist John Hanna contributed from Topeka, Kansas.

Willow Jade Dellaquila, of Carrollton, Kentucky, was 13 days old when she died on Nov. 5, 2023. She was infected with cronobacter sakazakii, a dangerous germ traced to a can of Similac Total Comfort powdered formula used in the baby’s bottles, records show.

“They told me she had a stroke on her right side of the brain,” Cheyenne Ping, Willow’s 25-year-old mother, said in an interview. “It’s really heartbreaking. No one should have to go through this.”

Ping and the baby’s 26-year-old father, Christian Dellaquila, can move forward with a lawsuit against Abbott, an Illinois judge ruled Wednesday.

The couple had previously sought to join a lawsuit with two other families who say their children suffered devastating brain damage caused by cronobacter linked to a different type of Abbott powdered formula, Similac Neosure. Mira White, a Missouri baby, was sickened with cronobacter in March 2023 at age 6 weeks. Ryker Brown, an Illinois toddler, was infected with the bacteria in July 2021, at age 4 weeks. Both survived.

But the judge on Wednesday asked that the three cases be filed separately, leaving open the question of whether they would be consolidated later.

The original lawsuit in December targeted Abbott, whose Sturgis, Michigan, plant was shuttered for months in 2022 after similar reports of infant illnesses and deaths. U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors found what agency chief Dr. Robert Califf called “shocking” conditions, including cronobacter, which led to recalls and sparked shortages that rocked U.S. formula supplies for more than a year.

Willow consumed formula made at the Sturgis plant and sold at a local Walmart store more than a year after Abbott was placed under court-mandated oversight by the FDA, The Associated Press has learned. The formula Ryker and Mira consumed was made at the company’s plant in Casa Grande, Arizona, which was the target of a separate whistleblower complaint about dangerous conditions, according to federal records.

Documents obtained by the AP show that an April 2023 FDA inspection at the Arizona site found lapses in contamination-prevention protocols, multiple detections of cronobacter at the plant and nearly two dozen complaints of confirmed cronobacter, salmonella or other infections in infants who had been fed formula made at the plant. Abbott officials said no link was found between the illnesses and the company’s formula, the records show.

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The lawsuits accuse Abbott of negligence, fraud and failing to warn parents of potential dangers of powdered formula and demand at least $450,000 per family.

Abbott officials say there is no proven link between the product and any infections, including the cases outlined in the lawsuit. Every can of Similac says that the product is not sterile and should not be fed to premature infants or infants who might have immune problems, unless directed and supervised by a doctor.

“No sealed, distributed product from our facilities have tested positive for Cronobacter sakazakii and we don’t believe these claims have merit,” Abbott officials said in an email Wednesday.

In a court filing, Abbott officials argued that there was no common connection between the cases, which occurred at different times, in different states and involved two different types of formula.

“The fact that each infant experienced a Cronobacter infection (months or years apart) is of no moment,” the company said.

The illnesses underscore the difficulty for regulators and health officials to keep tabs on bacteria that are everywhere — but also notoriously difficult to detect and track.

Cronobacter bacteria are common in nature, including in water and soil, and are found in home kitchens, including sinks, counters and even the scoops used to measure formula powder. But they can also be found in large factories, where they lurk on equipment and in the environment.

The bacteria’s ubiquity can make it hard to determine exactly when it got into the formula cans.

Evidence of cronobacter was found in open cans of Abbott formula in the homes of Willow and Mira and confirmed to be the cause of their infections, documents show. But the same strains of the bacteria were not detected in sealed cans of formula or at the Abbott factories, federal officials said. It’s not clear how Ryker became infected.

That doesn’t prove that the products were free of contamination, said Barbara Kowalcyk, director of the Center for Food Safety and Nutrition Security at George Washington University. Cronobacter cells tend to clump within dry foods like formula and are not distributed evenly, making detection unreliable, if not impossible.

“If you get negative test results, it doesn’t tell you as much as a positive test result does,” Kowalcyk. “If you get a positive, you’ve got a big problem. If you get a negative, you don’t know what’s going on.”

That stymies efforts to detect and stop cronobacter infections, which are particularly dangerous to newborns and babies born prematurely. Such infants are vulnerable to illnesses caused by the germ because their immune systems aren’t developed enough to fight it off. In those babies, the bacteria can move from the gut to the bloodstream and from there to the brain, where they can have devastating effects.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention typically receives two to four reports per year of infections caused by cronobacter, though officials believe that’s an undercount. In 2023, four infections were reported to the agency, records show. They included reports of invasive illness in Mira and Willow and in an unidentified baby in Maryland who was infected with cronobacter and developed meningitis in December after consuming Similac Advance powdered formula made by Abbott.

The CDC began formally tracking illnesses from the germ this year. So far, one confirmed case of cronobacter infection in an infant has been reported, officials said, though they provided no details. Powdered infant formula is the most common cause of cronobacter infections in babies, the agency said.

The 2022 Abbott crisis led Congress and federal investigators to sharply criticize the FDA’s oversight of infant formula. In a scathing audit issued in June, federal investigators found that the agency took 15 months to respond to a whistleblower complaint about the Sturgis plant and lacked basic safeguards to prevent dangerous and deadly infections.

The FDA says it has revamped oversight by creating a new human foods program and overhauled the way officials respond to reports of contamination, illnesses and deaths tied to infant formula. The audit “represents a snapshot in time, and the FDA continues to make progress,” the agency said in a statement.

Jim Jones, head of the program, said inspection issues, consumer complaints and whistleblower reports will now be routed to a single office.

“It will make it easier for us to be quicker at identifying a signal,” he said in a recent interview.

But for Willow’s family, such changes come too late. Ping, who received the formula through her state’s WIC program for low-income families, said she had no idea that powdered formula could contain bacteria that might harm her baby.

She said her family agreed to file a lawsuit to help hold Abbott accountable and raise awareness about the dangers of powdered formula.

“Parents need to know that powdered formula is not sterile,” Ping said. “It just needs to be out there. It needs to be known.”

___

Associated Press researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

“Kentucky State Police detectives located an infant’s body consistent with Miya Rudd at 1:15 today,” the agency said in a statement.

The hidden body was decomposing, it said.

The remains were found in a corner of the home, which was full of debris, Trooper Corey King told NBC affiliate WFIE of nearby Evansville, Indiana.

“Not the results we wanted,” he said, “but really expected.”

Preliminary findings from a medical examiner, including possible identification, could come as soon as Saturday, King told the station.

Law enforcement officials said that with the discovery, the search now transitions to a criminal investigation.

The girls’ parents, Tesla Tucker, 29, and Cage Rudd, 30; paternal grandparents Billie J. Smith, 49, and Ricky J. Smith, 56; and a fifth person, identified as Timothy L. Roach, were arrested in early June on drug charges.

All except Roach are from Reynolds Station, about 90 miles southwest of Louisville, police said. Roach is from Owensboro, about 25 miles west of Reynolds Station, they said.

It’s not clear if they have retained legal counsel. The public defender for the region did not respond to a request for comment.

Investigators looking for Miya spotted drugs, including pills containing fentanyl, “in plain sight” at a Motel 6 where her parents were contacted, King said previously. The pair also faced allegations of child abandonment.

Grandmother Billie J. Smith was contacted as part of the investigation and had an active warrant related to a domestic incident, according to state police and WFIE. Roach was at her residence, in a driveway, and allegedly tossed drugs as police arrived, they said.

On Wednesday, Miya’s maternal grandparents, Taletha and David Tucker, who have been raising her three siblings, were arrested based on warrants, WFIE reported, citing Kentucky State Police. The nature of the warrants was unclear.

They were initially booked into Daviess County Detention Center in Owensboro, the station said

It’s not clear if they have retained counsel. The same public defender’s office that would have jurisdiction should a judge decide to assign it did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Thursday, state police said a man who had been living with Miya’s parents for six months, Brodie C. Payne, 28, was charged and accused of trafficking drugs, including methamphetamine, from the residence.

He was in custody based on other drug charges from May, the agency said in a statement.

It was not apparent if he has a lawyer.

On Tuesday, state police used cadaver dogs to search the woods near Miya’s home for the missing girl. Police identified her in recent days as Maya Tucker, but they now appear to be using Rudd as her last name.

King told WFIE during an on-camera interview on Tuesday that state child welfare authorities had removed three of Miya’s siblings from her home because of drug allegations and were planning to do the same with Miya before she went missing.

He said her umbilical cord tested positive for methamphetamine shortly after birth.

A family member told police she was last seen at the end of April, King said. When asked about her whereabouts, Miya’s parents told investigators she had already been removed by the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services, he said Tuesday.

After checking, he said, investigators determined that wasn’t true.

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

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The separate executive orders signed by the Democratic governor represented his latest outreach to Black Kentuckians — but also reflected limits to that outreach.

Beshear, seen as a rising Democratic star, took the actions after efforts to make Juneteenth a statewide holiday and outlaw discrimination based on hairstyles failed in the state’s Republican-supermajority legislature.

“After years of inaction, I’ve decided I can no longer wait for others to do what is right,” said Beshear, who was joined by Black lawmakers as he signed the orders in the state Capitol in Frankfort.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued during the Civil War. For generations, Black Americans have recognized Juneteenth. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation establishing it as a federal holiday.

One Beshear order declares that starting this year, Juneteenth will be observed as a state executive branch holiday. All executive branch offices will be closed.

Beshear described Juneteenth as a celebration of progress but said it also “serves as a strong reminder of our responsibility as Americans and the work that still remains to be done.”

“This is an important day in our history as Americans,” he said. “One where we stand united in acknowledging our past and our nation’s greatest injustice. A day when we honor the strength and courage of African-Americans and the contributions they have made and continue to make for our country.”

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Legislation to make Juneteenth a Kentucky holiday was introduced this year by state Sen. Gerald Neal, the chamber’s top-ranking Democrat. It made no headway before the session ended last month. Neal, who is Black, signaled Thursday that he will try again in the 2025 session.

The other executive order expands protections in state hiring and employment by prohibiting discrimination based on “traits historically associated with race, including but not limited to natural hair texture and protective hairstyles, such as braids, locks and twists.”

Protections are needed because the state has a “diverse workforce full of talented, hard-working Kentuckians from all different backgrounds,” the governor said. “That’s what makes us special.”

Bills to ban discrimination based on hairstyles at work and school have died in recent legislative sessions, the governor’s office noted.

Melinda Wofford, a graduate of the Governor’s Minority Management Trainee Program who is an assistant director at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, thanked the governor for “embracing the individuality represented in our great commonwealth.”

“Acknowledging cultural uniqueness is a strength, which provides peace in the world, where everyone should feel comfortable and confident in reaching their full potential without fear of having to remove their crown,” said Wofford.

In March, Beshear marched with other Kentuckians to commemorate the 60th anniversary of a landmark civil rights rally that featured Martin Luther King Jr. in the state’s capital city. They retraced the steps of the civil rights icon and 10,000 others who joined the 1964 March on Frankfort to call for legislation to end discrimination and segregation in the Bluegrass State.

Beshear has included Black executives in his inner circle as governor and previously as state attorney general. He has pointed to his administration’s record of supporting the state’s historically black colleges and universities and for expanding health care and economic opportunities in minority neighborhoods.

Beshear also led the successful push to remove a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, a Kentucky native, from the state Capitol Rotunda.

Jesse E. Kipf, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of computer fraud in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky on March 29. According to the plea agreement, Kipf accessed the Hawaii death registry system in January 2023 using the details of a doctor living in another state and created a case for own death. He then “assigned himself as the medical certifier for the case and certified that case,” which resulted in Kipf being listed as deceased in many government databases.

“The defendant also infiltrated other states’ death registry systems using credentials he stole from other real people,” the plea agreement states. “The defendant faked his own death, in part, in order to avoid his outstanding child support obligations to his ex-wife.”

In addition, Kipf admitted to hacking into private business, governmental and corporate networks with information he stole from others and attempted to sell the access to the networks to buyers online, the court document states.

His attorney, Thomas Miceli, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kipf’s crimes resulted in more than $195,000 in estimated damages, including more than $79,000 in losses to governmental and corporate networks and more than $116,000 in losses suffered by his ex-wife. He has agreed to pay restitution to all parties he wronged, according to the plea agreement.

Kipf was initially indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2023 on five counts of computer fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft, according to a news release. He was accused of illegally accessing state websites for Arizona, Hawaii and Vermont, as well as businesses GuestTek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. and Milestone Inc.

Kipf was also indicted on two counts of making false statements on applications in connection with federally insured financial institutions for allegedly opening two credit accounts in 2020 and 2023 with a false Social Security number, according to the indictment.

These initial charges carried a prison sentence of over 30 years.

After taking a plea deal, Kipf faces a maximum of seven years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines, per court records.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for the afternoon of April 12.

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More than three months later, Willingham, 21, has not returned to the campus in Wilmore, Kentucky, her father, Andy Willingham, said Thursday, according to NBC News.

The elder Willingham has criticized the Jessamine County Sheriff’s Office for how it initially handled the investigation and said the university has not done enough to alert the campus about what he believes was an assault.

Representatives for Asbury University and the sheriff’s office said the investigation is ongoing, which limits their ability to speak in depth.

Willingham said what happened to his daughter was “purely physical torture.” She is still recovering physically, fears for her safety and is in therapy, he said.

“It has changed her direction. She doesn’t know if she’s going back to school, whether it would be Asbury or anywhere else,” Willingham said. “She’s trying to piece her world back together.”

He said his daughter’s memory has also been affected by the incident.

“She has no memory about anything about that day. She does not remember the previous day when I brought her back to campus. She has forgotten several things that have occurred during the semester itself,” he said.

Around 11 pm. Nov. 27, the resident director of Isabella Willingham’s dorm told her family she was being taken to the emergency room because she may have fallen off her loft-style bed, which was about 5 to 5 ½ feet off the ground, her father said. But he added that the possibility of that was remote because she was protected by a rail about 8 inches above her mattress.

After Andy Willingham arrived at University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington, a chaplain told him that his daughter was on a ventilator and had gruesome injuries.

Minutes later, the chaplain returned with two sheriff’s deputies who were called to the hospital because doctors determined his daughter’s injuries were most likely caused by abuse or a beating, Willingham said.

Willingham also learned his daughter stopped breathing on her own for about 23 minutes, almost exactly when emergency medical personnel arrived at her dorm and saved her life. She also stopped breathing for about nine minutes at the hospital, he said.

She was hospitalized for nearly two weeks before she was released, her father said.

Willingham, 59, said both Asbury University — where he met his wife and from which he graduated in 1991 — and the Jessamine County Sheriff’s Office have left a lot to be desired in how they have handled the incident and reached out to the public with pertinent information.

“The university is trying to hide this. They are more concerned about protecting their reputation than they are about doing the right thing and protecting the students and finding an answer to this,” Willingham said. 

He said Asbury failed to notify the campus about what occurred until early December, after a local media report. He also said the incident was not added to the campus crime report until later that month, after his daughter insisted on it.

A representative for Asbury University said in an email Thursday: “This matter is part of an ongoing investigation by the appropriate authorities and with the University’s full cooperation. We are unable to provide any updates or specific information at this time. Asbury’s priority remains the safety and wellbeing of its students, faculty, and staff. Please refer all additional inquires to the Jessamine County Sheriff’s Office.”

Willingham said he was also upset after a WKYT-TV of Lexington reported in early December that the sheriff’s office said his daughter most likely had a medical episode and called allegations that she was beaten “lies.”

After Christmas break, the sheriff’s office told students in the dormitory by email that it was investigating an incident and to come forward if they had information, Willingham said. NBC News has not seen the email.

Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Purcell said Thursday: “It’s an open investigation at this time, and our rules are not to comment on an open investigation.”

Willingham said that a rape kit determined his daughter was not sexually assaulted and that toxicology reports “found nothing of concern.” NBC News has not reviewed the reports. 

His daughter has no history of mental illness or hurting herself, Willingham said.

Willingham said some of her injuries were bizarre: Eight of her acrylic nails either were ripped off or fell off, and she had nearly identical bruises on both sides of her pelvis.

“The tops of her feet looked like she had been [dragged] across concrete or a gravel area,” he said.

Willingham wants to see someone arrested and charged for what happened to his daughter.

“Ideally, we would find who did this and justice would be done,” he said. “Also, the school would be forthright in communicating to the student body about potential threats and risks on campus.”

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The three-vehicle crash on the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge connecting Louisville, Kentucky to southern Indiana was reported around noon, Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said during a press conference. One other person involved in the crash was immediately taken to the hospital and crews set up to rescue the truck driver from the cab.

It took about 40 minutes to set up a rope system and get someone ready to rappel down to the cab and hook the driver up to a safety harness and bring her out safely, O’Neill said. She was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

“The train for this type of stuff all the time,” he said about the rescue company. “This is very much a worst case scenario.”

Firefighters were prepared and the operation went smoothly because of their training, he said.

“These were some serious heroes here,” he said. “This was some really professional, well practiced, well trained stuff. They got right out there, got right to her.”

Louisville Metro Police are investigating the crash and said the bridge remained closed Friday afternoon in both directions.

A safety inspection of the bridge will be conducted after all vehicles are removed, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said.

Josiah Kilman, 18, was pronounced dead at a hospital after police officers were called early Saturday to Campbellsville University in central Kentucky, police said in a news release. The freshman theology major and wrestling team member from Columbia Falls, Montana, was found unresponsive in his dorm room, the university said.

A state autopsy determined Kilman had been strangled, but a motive remains undetermined, police said Monday.

A campus lockdown was lifted after Charles Escalera, 21, a wrestler and sophomore pre-engineering major from Moore, Oklahoma, was arrested Saturday evening by state police following a report of a suspicious person in a barn, police and school officials said.

He was charged with murder and second-degree burglary, and bond was set at $2 million, court records show. Escalera was found in a residence and admitted to breaking into it and taking food, police said in an arrest document.

A defense attorney listed in court records for Escalera did not immediately return a phone call and email seeking comment. His arraignment was continued to March 6.

Kilman’s family said in a statement that he had a “passionate heart on fire for the Lord” and dreamed of leading others to follow God, WLEX-TV reported.

“Josiah influenced many hearts as he was a true example of compassion, kindness, and love,” the family said. “His example compelled so many others to make the same changes he wished to see in the world, and his impact on their lives will never truly be forgotten.”

University President Joseph Hopkins said in a statement to the campus community that Kilman was a “bright light, and a person of incredible hope,” saying his faith was contagious. Hopkins said he prayed Sunday with wrestlers and coaches.

“I told them the wrestling team is about to get much bigger as you, our staff, students, and this community, stand with them over the coming days and months,” he wrote.

The university enrolls about 1,200 students in Campbellsville and about 11,000 systemwide, the school said.

Farrish Jr., who drives buses in Louisville, Kentucky, recently noticed a little boy named Levi was having a rough morning. 

“Normally when I pull up, he’s standing there waiting for me with a big smile, but on this day, he was sitting on the ground with a jacket over his head,” Farrish Jr., 35, tells TODAY.com. “I asked him, ‘Hey buddy, what’s going on? What’s wrong?’”

That’s when Levi, a first grader at Engelhard Elementary School, explained through tears that he didn’t have pajamas for Pajama Day. Farrish Jr. closed the doors, and watched as Levi slid into a seat away from his friends.

Farrish Jr. says knowing that Levi wanted to participate but couldn’t, filled him with sadness.

“I thought, ‘I gotta fix this,” Farrish Jr. says.

After Farrish Jr. finished up his morning routes, he headed to a Family Dollar store and purchased two pairs of pajamas for Levi. Then he headed over to Levi’s school to make things right.

“I said, ‘You were hurting this morning, you were crying, so I got you these pajamas,” Farrish Jr. recalls. “He was so excited — you should’ve seen how his face lit up.”

Farrish Jr. adds that Levi hugged the pajamas to his chest.

Mr. Larry, as the kids call him, turned Levi’s whole day around.

“I can tell Mr. Larry is nice and his heart is filled with joy,” Levi said in a news release. “When he got me the pajamas, I did a happy cry.” 

Farrish Jr., who previously worked as a correctional officer and a truck driver, says he’s found his calling.

“I’ve been driving buses for seven years. It’s my passion because I get to build bonds with the children,” he says. “I truly love every minute of it.” 

After Jefferson County Public Schools posted on its Facebook what Farrish Jr. did for Levi, people started sharing their own stories.

“Mr. Larry is the absolute best. We were blessed with him as our bus driver for 4 years. Top notch human,” one person wrote.

Added another, “Larry is the absolute best and kiddos know they are in great, caring, capable hands with him!!!”

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The sculptor, Ed Hamilton, posted photos of his artwork at Waterfront Park on Facebook on Saturday and said someone stole the hat from the sculpture.

“They had to be strong and determined to pry bronze from a base, good grief!” his post said.

Metro Louisville Police told news outlets that an online report has been filed with the department and they are asking anyone with information to call an anonymous tip line.

The 12-foot (3.6-meter) statue of Lincoln seated on a rock looking out at the Ohio River was dedicated in 2009. The top hat had rested on a rock beside the former president, who was born in rural Kentucky.

Park officials are reviewing video recordings to see if they can spot any suspicious activity, Hamilton told the Courier Journal. He said he hopes the hat is returned soon.

CSX spokesperson Bryan Tucker said in an email Thursday afternoon that “the fire is completely out.” He said that authorities and CSX officials reviewed air monitoring data and decided it was safe to let displaced return home.

The CSX train derailed around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday near Livingston, a remote town with about 200 people in Rockcastle County. Residents were encouraged to evacuate.

Two of the 16 cars that derailed carried molten sulfur, which caught fire after the cars were breached, CSX said in a statement.

It’s believed that the fire released the potentially harmful gas sulfur dioxide, but officials have not released results of measurements taken from air monitoring equipment that was being deployed Wednesday night.

The derailment meant some Livingston residents woke up on Thanksgiving in a middle school shelter.

Cindy Bradley had just finished cooking for the big meal Wednesday when an official knocking loudly urged her to leave her small Kentucky home as soon as possible because a train had derailed.

She ended up at Rockcastle County Middle School in Livingston — unsure what was to come next.

“It’s just really scary. We don’t know how long this is,” Bradley told WTVQ-TV on Wednesday night, surrounded by dozens of cots.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency website, sulfur dioxide can cause respiratory problems, depending on the concentration and length of exposure. The gas is commonly produced by burning fossil fuels at power plants and other industrial processes, the EPA says.

Evelyn Gray noticed a problem when her back door was opened by someone telling her to evacuate.

“As soon as he opened the back door to come in the chemical hit me, and I had a real bad asthma attack,” Gray told the TV station.

The danger from sulfur dioxide tends to be direct and quick, irritating the lungs and skin, said Neil Donahue, a chemistry professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

“It is just nasty, caustic, and acidic stuff that hurts. It’s unpleasant to be in,” Donahue said.

Once the fire was put out, the threat from the chemicals was expected to diminish quickly, Donahue said.

CSX is now working to clean up an additional spilled chemical and restore the area.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency in the county, assuring crews all the help from the state they need. He asked the public to keep in mind the emergency workers and people forced to spend Thanksgiving away from home.

“Please think about them and pray for a resolution that gets them back in their homes. Thank you to all the first responders spending this day protecting our people,” the governor said in a statement Thursday.

CSX promised to pay the costs of anyone asked to evacuate, including a Thanksgiving dinner.

She ended up at Rockcastle County Middle School in Livingston — unsure what was next.

“I just cooked everything. It’s like ‘oh we’re having thanksgiving tomorrow.’ Guess we’re not,” Bradley told NBC affiliate WLEX-TV Wednesday night, surrounded by dozens of cots. “Our homes are empty, people are scared there’s elderly people with oxygen, people needed medicine if they didn’t bring it. It’s just a scary situation all the way around.”

The CSX train derailed around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday near Livingston, a remote town with about 200 people in Rockcastle County.

Two of the 16 cars that derailed carried molten sulfur, which caught fire after the cars were breached, CSX said in a statement. Crews were still working to extinguish the fire Thursday morning, the company said. WLEX-TV reported that one crew member was treated at the scene for minor injuries.

When molten sulfur burns, it’s known to release sulfur dioxide, which is a toxic gas. It is unclear how much of the toxic gas is being released and officials have not released results of measurements taken from air monitoring equipment that was being deployed Wednesday night.

On Thursday afternoon, CSX spokesperson Bryan Tucker said in a brief email that “the fire is completely out.” 

John Mura, a spokesman for the state Energy and Environment Cabinet, said he didn’t have further information on the quantity of chemicals released.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency website, sulfur dioxide can cause respiratory problems, depending on the concentration and length of exposure. The gas is commonly produced by burning fossil fuels at power plants and other industrial processes, the EPA says.

Evelyn Gray noticed a problem when her back door was opened by someone telling her to evacuate.

“As soon as he opened the back door to come in the chemical hit me, and I had a real bad asthma attack,” Gray told the TV station.

Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency in the county, assuring crews all the help from the state they need. He asked the public to keep in mind the emergency workers and people forced to spend Thanksgiving away from home.

“Please think about them and pray for a resolution that gets them back in their homes. Thank you to all the first responders spending this day protecting our people,” the governor said in a statement Thursday.

CSX promised to pay the costs of anyone asked to evacuate, including a Thanksgiving dinner.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear won reelection to a second term Tuesday, notching another significant statewide victory in an increasingly red state that could serve as a model for other Democrats on how to thrive politically heading into next year’s defining presidential election.

Beshear, 45, rode his stewardship over record economic growth and his handling of multiple disasters, from tornadoes and floods to the COVID-19 pandemic, to victory over Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a protege of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. In what could be a preview of how Democrats campaign in 2024, Beshear hammered Cameron throughout the campaign for his support of the state’s sweeping abortion ban, which makes no exceptions for victims of rape or incest.

The outcome gives divided government another stamp of voter approval in Kentucky, as Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature and continue to dominate the state’s congressional delegation, including both U.S. Senate seats.

Beshear’s victory sustains a family dynasty that has repeatedly defied the Bluegrass State’s tilt toward the GOP. His father, Steve Beshear, is a popular former two-term governor. By the end of Andy Beshear’s second four-year term, a Beshear will have presided in the Kentucky governor’s office for 16 of the last 20 years.

The win, which took place in increasingly difficult political terrain, could position the younger Beshear to join a growing list of Democratic governors flagged as potential contenders for higher office nationally.

The contest with Cameron was a matchup of former law firm colleagues, both of whom have been pegged as rising stars. Cameron made political history in 2019 as Kentucky’s first Black attorney general but was unable to clear the last hurdle to become the state’s first Black governor.

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Cameron tried nationalizing the campaign by linking Beshear to Democratic President Joe Biden in a state where Republican ex-President Donald Trump remains popular. Beshear followed his successful campaign formula from 2019, when he narrowly defeated GOP Gov. Matt Bevin, by sidestepping discussion of Biden or Trump, focusing instead on state issues and emphasizing his leadership during a tumultuous first term.

In the end, Cameron was unable to overcome the personal popularity of Beshear, who became a living room fixture across Kentucky with his press conferences during the height of the pandemic. From those briefings, Beshear became known to many Kentuckians as much by his first name as his last. His updates were part reassuring pep talk and part sermon on how to contain the virus.

Throughout the campaign, Beshear offered an upbeat assessment of the state, while Cameron pounded away at the governor’s record and consistently linked it to Biden. Beshear touted the state’s record-high economic development growth and record-low unemployment rates during his term, and said he has Kentucky poised to keep thriving.

Beshear was thrust into crisis management during the pandemic and when deadly tornadoes tore through parts of western Kentucky — including his father’s hometown — in late 2021, followed by devastating flooding the next summer in sections of the state’s Appalachian region in the east. The governor oversaw recovery efforts that are ongoing, offering frequent updates and traveling to stricken areas repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Cameron said Beshear took credit for accomplishments stemming from Republican legislative policies. He blasted the governor’s restrictions during the pandemic, saying the shutdowns crippled businesses and caused learning loss among students. Beshear said his actions saved lives, mirrored those in other states and reflected guidance from the Trump administration.

Hot-button transgender and abortion issues dominated much of the campaign.

Cameron and his GOP allies tried to capitalize on Beshear’s veto of a measure banning gender-affirming care for children, portraying the governor as an advocate of gender reassignment surgery for minors.

Beshear hit back, claiming his foes misrepresented his position while pointing to his faith and support for parental rights to explain his veto. He said the bill “rips away” parental freedom to make medical decisions for their children. Beshear, a church deacon, said he believes “all children are children of God.”

Democrats put Cameron on the defensive on the abortion issue.

They played up Cameron’s support for the state’s existing near-total abortion ban, which offers no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Beshear denounced it as extremist, and his campaign ran a viral TV ad featuring a young woman, now in her early 20s, who revealed she was raped by her stepfather when she was 12 years old. She became pregnant as a seventh grader but eventually miscarried. She took aim at Cameron in the ad, saying: “Anyone who believes there should be no exceptions for rape and incest could never understand what it’s like to stand in my shoes.”

Cameron signaled that he would sign legislation adding the rape and incest exceptions, but days later he resumed a more hardline stance, indicating during a campaign stop that he would support such exceptions “if the courts made us change that law.” It highlighted the complexities of abortion-related politics for Republicans since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade.

A video posted by LMPD’s verified account on X, formerly known as Twitter, shows a vehicle traveling through the intersection of Central and Floyd avenues by the stadium’s southeast corner on Monday afternoon.

The video blurs the crash but shows at least five Cardinals players and another driver flipping the wrecked vehicle from the driver’s side back onto its wheels before first responders arrived.

The driver sustained minor injuries in the accident but will be OK, the LMPD video stated.

It did not identify the Louisville players who helped in the rescue, although football spokesperson Rocco Gasparro said junior wide receiver Jadon Thompson, a Cincinnati transfer, was one of them.

The LMPD video began with a picture of the throwback Cardinals football logo and ended with a graphic that said, “TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK.”

Louisville Football tweeted the video and posted, “Proud of our guys & thankful everyone is okay!”

The Cardinals (3-0) host Boston College (1-2) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game on Saturday.

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Authorities have determined the cause of death to be respiratory failure due to beestings, although the investigation remains ongoing, Harlan County Coroner’s Office Deputy Coroner John Jones said.

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From his home in Evarts, Kentucky, he was then transported by an ambulance to the emergency room at a nearby hospital and died that evening, according to the coroner’s office.

The coroner’s office said in a Facebook post on Monday that they are withholding his name until family members can be reached. The man is survived by his wife and adult children, Jones said.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com.

Davis, the former Rowan County clerk, drew international attention when she was briefly jailed in 2015 over her refusal, which she based on her belief that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.

A jury in Ashland, Kentucky, awarded David Ermold and David Moore each $50,000 after deliberating on Wednesday, according to lawyers for Davis. A second couple who sued, James Yates and Will Smith, were awarded no damages on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge David Bunning.

Bunning sent Davis to jail for five days in 2015 after holding her in contempt of court. She was parodied on Saturday Night Live and embraced by conservative politicians who traveled to Kentucky to support her.

Davis was released only after her staff issued the licenses on her behalf but removed her name from the form. Kentucky’s state legislature later enacted a law removing the names of all county clerks from state marriage licenses.

Bunning ruled last year that Davis violated the constitutional rights of the two couples. In the ruling, Bunning reasoned that Davis “cannot use her own constitutional rights as a shield to violate the constitutional rights of others while performing her duties as an elected official.”

The trials held this week were held to decide damages against Davis. The former clerk had argued that a legal doctrine called qualified immunity protected her from being sued for damages by the couples.

Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, which represented Davis in the case, said in a release Wednesday they “look forward to appealing this decision and taking this case to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Davis’ lawyers in the case in 2020.

Ermold and Moore had a highly publicized showdown with Davis at the Rowan County clerk’s office in 2015 after they asked for a marriage license with news cameras surrounding them. When she refused, Moore asked under whose authority was she acting. She replied, “under God’s authority.”

Ermold unsuccessfully ran for clerk of Rowan County in 2018, when Davis was defeated by another Democrat. Before running, Ermold and Moore returned to Davis’ office to file to run for clerk, and Davis, who handled election filings, helped Ermold during a brief but cordial meeting.

Experts say the coins, known as “The Great Kentucky Hoard,” are dated from 1840 to 1862 and are estimated to be worth over well over $2 million.

“Underneath were just these phenomenally beautiful, preserved coins,” Certified Collectibles Group Executive Vice President Andrew Salzberg told NBC affiliate WAVE-TV.

Salzberg added the coins were preserved so well because they were buried, so they were not exposed to air.

According to Numismatic Guaranty Company, the organization that certified the coins, the collection includes a group of extremely rare 1863 Double Eagles and hundreds of U.S. gold dollars dated from 1850 to 1862.

Some of the rarest coins in the collection are eighteen 1863-P $20 Gold Liberty coins, which according to GovMint. “can command “a six-figure price.”

“The Civil War was a time of great turmoil in Kentucky. Many families were pitted against one another, and Kentucky saw much conflict,” NGC said. “The Great Kentucky Hoard may have been a result of this conflict, with the coins lost for over 150 years until they were unearthed in a cornfield.”

Even though the discovery is being dubbed by the NGC as “the discovery of a lifetime,” officials are not releasing the identity of the man who found the coins, how he found them and the location of the cornfield.

The man, William Nott, had about 40 human bones, including skulls, at his house in Mt. Washington, Kentucky, as well as a Harvard Medical School bag, federal officials said.

“The skulls were decorated around the furniture,” an FBI agent wrote in a complaint filed in federal court Tuesday. “One skull had a head scarf around it. One skull was located on the mattress where [he] slept. A Harvard Medical School bag was found inside the Residence.”

Nott was arrested for allegedly possessing a gun as a convicted felon — he had an AK-47 and inert grenades among other weapons in the house, officials said. No charges have been filed over the body parts allegedly found at the house.

It wasn’t immediately clear if he had an attorney who could speak to his arrest.

Several people have been arrested in the alleged trafficking of human body parts from Harvard Medical School’s morgue and an Arkansas mortuary, federal prosecutors have said. The scheme allegedly ran from 2018 to early 2023; Harvard Medical School’s then-morgue manager is accused of allowing people into the morgue to choose which body parts they wanted, as well as bringing body parts to his home, where he and his wife would ship them to buyers.

Investigators began looking into Nott because of communications with a Pennsylvania man who’s previously been arrested in the case, according to the criminal complaint. During a search of the house on Tuesday, an FBI agent asked Nott if anyone else was home, and Nott replied, “only my dead friends,” the complaint said.

They shared images of skulls that Nott allegedly posted for sale on Facebook as recently as June. The account used the name William Burke, the complaint said, noting that a 19th century Scottish serial killer by the same name sold victims’ bodies to a lecturer in the University of Edinburgh’s Anatomy Department.

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Nott served three years behind bars for a collection of destructive devices, NBC affiliate WAVE reported.

Harvard has condemned what its former employee is accused of as “morally reprehensible and inconsistent” and has pledged to work with families of people who donated their bodies to the medical school — working with the bodies is part of medical students’ training.

This week, students from Harvard’s medical and dental schools wrote a letter to affected families discussing how much it means to them to be able to learn from their work with these cadavers.

“It is absolutely unthinkable that such an atrocity would ever occur. No words can undo those actions, and while we can never understand how you are feeling, we do hope that we can convey our deepest condolences to you and your loved ones,” the letter said.

The body part sale allegations have spurred lawsuits against Harvard; the school has said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

Jack Porter of Newton, Massachusetts, has been told by Harvard that his wife’s remains may have been among those stolen. He says the situation is disturbing.

“It just bothers me that the possibility that my wife’s body is out there,” Porter said. “I just don’t want anybody fondling or looking at my wife’s body parts. It’s disgusting.”

“These aren’t cadavers, pieces and parts, these were someone’s loved ones,” said attorney Kathryn Barnett, who is representing multiple families in a lawsuit against Harvard.

She says families trusted Harvard to care for their loved ones.

“And that there won’t be a criminal who can parade other criminals around to pick and choose like they’re at a flea market, what parts would they like,” said Barnett, who has expertise in desecration law at Morgan & Morgan

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Body-worn camera video shows officers with LMPD’s 6th Division responding to a report of a pig running loose in a residential neighborhood shortly after 5 p.m. on June 29. As officers arrive, a bystander can be seen running alongside the pig, between the animal and a busy road.

“We tried using a hobble as a leash but our new friend wasn’t having it,” police wrote alongside the video on Facebook. “Neighbors even pitched in to help us with the chase! Everyone fell down, everyone laughed… ahhh, good times.”

“He’s one of us,” an officer can be heard saying in the video. “Just a couple of pigs chasing a pig.”

Eventually, the pig ended up in a backyard where officers were able to use a dog pole to snare the animal. The pig’s owners brought a large dog crate to transport it away.

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An initial investigation found that the shooting reported Monday evening at the home in McKee was accidental, Kentucky State Police said in a statement.

Life-saving measures were attempted, but the child was pronounced dead at the scene by the Jackson County coroner, police said. An investigation continues, said police, who did not identify those involved.

There have been more than 150 unintentional shootings by children in the U.S. so far this year, including three others in Kentucky, resulting in at least 58 deaths and 101 injuries, according to the Everytown for Gun Safety advocacy group.

Kentucky does not have any laws that impose a penalty on those that fail to secure an unattended firearm, according to Giffords Law Center. However, the state prohibits anyone from “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly” providing a handgun to a minor unless the minor has legal permission to possess a handgun.

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Southern Baptist church representatives at their annual meeting here also rejected a similar appeal by a smaller church, Fern Creek Baptist of Louisville, Kentucky, which is led by a woman pastor.

The results of the Tuesday votes were announced Wednesday morning on the concluding day of the the two-day annual meeting here of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, whose statement of faith asserts that only qualified men can serve as pastors.

The convention hall packed with about 12,000 Southern Baptists was quiet after the announcement, appearing to have listened to the earlier urging by SBC President Bart Barber for them to show restraint.

“I know sometimes there are churches where people wind up in biblical divorce,” he said. “But we don’t throw divorce parties at church. And whatever these results are, I’m asking you, behave like Christians.”

Saddleback had been the denomination’s second-largest congregation and until recently was widely touted as a success story amid larger Southern Baptist membership declines.

With the 9,437-1,212 vote, delegates rejected an appeal by Rick Warren, the retired founding pastor of Saddleback and author of the best-selling phenomenon, “The Purpose Driven Life.” Warren had urged Baptists to agree to disagree “in order to share a common mission.”

“Messengers voted for conformity and uniformity rather than unity. The only way you will have unity is to love diversity. We made this effort knowing we were not going to win,” Warren said at a news conference after the results were announced.

Church representatives also voted 9,700-806 to deny an appeal by a smaller congregation, Fern Creek Baptist Church of Louisville, Kentucky, which has had a woman pastor for three decades but came under heightened scrutiny this year.

Warren and the Rev. Linda Barnes Popham, pastor of Fern Creek, made their final appeals to Southern Baptists here on Tuesday during the denomination’s annual meeting.

Warren has been a lifelong Southern Baptist, and the church he founded being removed from the denomination was something he might have never expected even though he has pushed the boundaries for several years now, said Scott Thumma, a sociology of religion professor and director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

“It’s pretty clear (from his speech Tuesday) that Warren did not think the SBC was going to reinstate Saddleback,” he said. “But, he’s had a platform to say what being Baptist means, what the Scripture says about women in ministry, that Southern Baptists are under a big tent and what is means to exclude any congregation. This is all probably more symbolic.”

Following the vote results, Warren issued a critique of the direction of the SBC that contributed to Saddleback’s ejection.

“There are people who want to take the SBC back to the 1950s when white men ruled supreme and when the woman’s place was in the home. There are others who want to take it back 500 years to the time of the Reformation,” he said. “I say we need to take the church back to the first century. The church at its birth was the church at its best.”

In February, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee voted to oust the two congregations, along with three others that chose not to appeal, for having women pastors.

All Baptist churches are independent, so the convention can’t tell them what to do, but it can decide which churches are “not in friendly cooperation,” the official verbiage for an expulsion. The SBC’s official statement of faith says the office of pastor is reserved for qualified men, but this is believed to be the first time the convention has expelled any churches over it.

___

Bharath reported from Los Angeles.

The roommate, who has not been named, sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the weekend shooting, according to the Louisville Metro Police Department.

Clifton Williams, 64, was arrested early Sunday and charged with second-degree assault, police said. On Monday, he pleaded not guilty, according to NBC News affiliate WAVE of Louisville.

An attorney for Williams did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to a police citation, the two roommates had a physical fight over the frozen sandwich.

Williams is scheduled to be back in court May 30 for a preliminary hearing.

Over 300 children were found working at the restaurants across several states, with 45 of the 62 McDonald’s restaurants located in Kentucky.

At one store in Louisville operated by Bauer Food LLC, two 10-year-olds were found to be working unpaid and as late as 2 a.m., the department said. The two children had a variety of responsibilities, including preparing and distributing orders, cleaning the store, working at the drive-thru window and operating cash registers. The department found that one of them was allowed to operate a deep fryer, which is prohibited under federal law for workers under 16 years old.

Over 300 children under the age of 16 – two that were only 10-years-old – were found working beyond federal child labor limits in 62 McDonald’s locations across Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Maryland, according to the Department of Labor.

Click on each location below for more information.

Data: Department of Labor

Bauer Food LLC responded by saying the 10-year-olds were children of a night manager and they were just visiting their parent at work, all while not being approved by franchisee organization management.

The Labor Department’s investigation found that at least 305 children were employed in violation of federal labor laws across McDonald’s locations in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio. Three franchisees — Bauer Food LLC, Archways Richwood LLC and Bell Restaurant Group I LLC — own and operate the 62 locations found to be in violation.

Now, the three franchises face civil money penalties with an estimated combined total of more than $212,000.

Archways Richwood LLC will face the biggest penalty, an estimated $143,566 in civil money penalties, after it was found that 242 children between the ages of 14 and 15 worked beyond allowable hours at their locations.

You can read the full report from the U.S. Department of Labor here.

The videos, taken from two wounded officers’ lapels, offer a rare perspective of police officers responding to a massacre that killed five and injured eight others Monday. One, a rookie officer, was shot in the head within minutes of arriving at the scene, as his partner was grazed by a bullet and sought cover while still trying to take down the shooter.

Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey walked reporters through edited footage and still photos at a new conference Tuesday and praised the responding officers for their heroism.

They received the call of a shooting at Old National Bank at 8:38 a.m., and the two officers arrived three minutes later, according to a chronology provided by police. They hadn’t even gotten out of the patrol car when the gunman began firing on them.

“Back up, back up, back up,” one officer shouted as gunshots thundered in the background.

One still image from surveillance video showed the 25-year-old shooter, who worked at the bank, holding a rifle, wearing jeans, a blue button-down shirt and sneakers, surrounded by broken glass inside the building. He had already shot numerous people inside, and police said he set up an ambush position to attack officers as they arrived.

The front doors were glass, elevated from the sidewalk, and because of the reflection, the officers could not see the shooter inside, Humphrey said. But he could see them.

Officer Cory Galloway retrieved a rifle from the trunk of the patrol car.

“Cover for me,” he said, and they reported to dispatch that there had been shots fired.

Galloway was training rookie Officer Nickolas Wilt, who had graduated from the police academy just 10 days earlier. The videos showed them walking up the stairs toward the front door when the gunman fired a barrage of bullets.

Wilt was shot in the head, though that was not captured on video. Galloway was grazed in the shoulder, police said. His body camera showed that he fell and then took cover behind a concrete planter at the bottom of the staircase leading to the building. Sirens from the dozens of police cars coming toward them wailed in the background.

“The shooter has an angle on that officer,” he said in the video recording. “We need to get up there. I don’t know where he’s at, the glass is blocking him.”

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A video taken by a bystander across the street, which police also released Tuesday, showed him darting back and forth from one side of the planter to another, trying to get a shot at the gunman.

He waited, and as other officers arrived, more gunshots rang out and glass shattered.

Galloway fired toward the gunman at 8:44 a.m., three minutes after arriving.

“I think I got him down! I think he’s down!” he shouted. “Suspect down! Get the officer!”

He advanced into the building, and shards of glass crunched under his feet. The video then showed Galloway approaching the suspect, who lay on the ground inside the lobby next to a long rifle.

“I think you can see the tension in that video,” Humphrey said Tuesday. “You can understand the stress that those officers are going through. … They did absolutely exactly what they needed to do to save lives. Once officers arrived on scene, not another person was shot.”

Wilt was transported in the back of a police car to a hospital, Humphrey said. In the chaotic first minutes, police treated and triaged the victims inside. Humphrey said the ambulance service was short-staffed, so a police lieutenant drove the ambulance while emergency crews treated people at the scene.

Wilt was still in critical but stable condition Tuesday, according to University of Louisville Hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jason Smith.

Two of the four wounded still in the hospital had injuries that were not life-threatening, Smith said.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said it was crucial to release the footage because “transparency is important — even more so in a time of crisis.”

Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said at a news conference that bank employee Connor Sturgeon, 25, bought the AR-15 assault-style rifle used in the attack at a local dealership on April 4.

“We have also learned that he purchased the weapon used in this tragic incident yesterday on April 4,” she said. “He purchased the weapon legally from one of the local dealerships here in Louisville.”

Armed with the rifle, Sturgeon killed his co-workers — including a close friend of Kentucky’s governor — while livestreaming the attack.

“We do know this was targeted. He knew those individuals, of course, because he worked there,” Gwinn-Villaroel said, but didn’t give an indication of a motive behind the shooting.

Gwinn-Villaroel praised the “heroic actions” of officers who engaged the shooter without hesitation when they arrived.

“They went towards danger in order to save and preserve life,” she said. “They stopped the threat so other lives could be saved. No hesitation, and they did what they were called do to.”

The shooting, the 15th mass killing in the country this year, comes just two weeks after a former student killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, about 160 miles (260 kilometers) to the south.

In Louisville, five Old National Bank employees were killed: Joshua Barrick, 40, a senior vice president; Tommy Elliott, 63, also a senior vice president; Jim Tutt Jr., 64, a commercial real estate market executive; Juliana Farmer, 45, a loan analyst; and Deana Eckert, 57, an executive administrative officer.

The mayor urged unity as the community processes its grief, over this shooting and the many other spasms of gun violence that have stunned this city.

“We’re all feeling shaken by this, and scared and angry and a lot of other things too,” Greenberg said. “It’s important that we come together as a community to process this tragedy in particular but not just this tragedy because the reality is that we have already lost 40 people to gun violence in Louisville this year.”

Details were also emerging about some of the wounded, including a rookie officer who was just recently sworn in.

Louisville’s former Mayor Greg Fischer said he’d known 63-year-old Tommy Elliott, one of those killed, for 40 years. He likes to tell a story about how they met: Elliott was a young banker and Fischer was a young businessman. They were both ambitious and “wet behind the ears,” Fischer said. Elliott called him up and said he wanted to be his personal banker.

“I reminded him that my net worth was less than $5,000 and thought he was crazy,” Fischer said. “I said, ‘Your prospect list must be getting pretty bad, Tommy, to be calling me.’”

Fischer said that story highlights Elliott’s work ethic and his ability to see things in people they might not see in themselves.

“He got great joy out of helping people and seeing people succeed,” he said.

They became close friends, and when Fischer launched his first bid to be mayor, Elliott signed on to be his campaign finance manager and remained with him the rest of his political career.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, who represents Louisville, knew Elliott for years and said, “It’s unimaginable to me that he’s not here.”

“He enjoyed life,” McGarvey said. “He enjoyed people. He enjoyed being in the mix. He enjoyed trying to get stuff done to move Louisville and Kentucky forward. He was serious about it, but he had fun with it.”

Elliott’s network of friends included Louisville native Lonnie Ali, the wife of the late boxing great Muhammad Ali. She pointed to his sense of humor and his commitment to his community.

“Tommy was such a warm, wonderful, funny, kind guy,” she said. “Just the sweetest person. And it’s just such a huge loss, not just to his friends and family, but to the community. Because that’s what Tommy was about. Tommy was about community.”

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“I’m going to miss him so much,” she added.

Fischer said Elliott was a devoted family man. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and two stepdaughters. Fischer said it’s hard for him to imagine the hole that’s been left for them.

Nine others, including two police officers, were treated for injuries from the shooting. One of the officers, 26-year-old Nickolas Wilt, graduated from police academy March 31. He was in critical condition Monday after being shot in the head and having surgery. The police department said on Twitter that Wilt “ran towards the gunfire today to save lives.”

The other slain victims included Joshua Barrick, Juliana Farmer and James Tutt. A fifth victim, Deana Eckert, died later, police announced Monday night.

Hundreds gathered Monday evening at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, where Barrick was an active member. The church placed a photo of him with a wide smile on its alter, as well as a second of Barrick with his wife and two young children.

“He was so well known, he made himself known,” said Pastor Shayne Duvall. “This community is mourning. We’re trying to wrap our heads around it.”

Duvall remembered Barrick as a big guy with a bubbly personality who coached basketball for the the first and second graders at the parish’s grade school. He described him as “very charismatic, very charming” and said Barrick was among the first who welcomed him when he came to the church less than a year ago.

Barrick had worked for about two decades in banking and previously worked at WesBanco, according to The Courier-Journal. Louisville Business First named him one of its 20 People to Know in Banking in 2020.

Tutt was a Frankfort native who graduated from the University of Kentucky and worked in banking for over 38 years, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Oldham County Judge-Executive David Voegele told the Courier-Journal that Tutt served on the Oldham-La Grange Development Authority from 2011-2022, including a number of years as its chair.

“He added a tremendous amount of insights as we went about developing our office park in LaGrange,” Voegele said. “He’s a very high quality, well-thought-of individual … It’s just sickening to hear what’s happened.”

Farmer, a loan officer, was a mother and grandmother, according to the Herald-Leader.

While mourning her friend and the other shooting victims in her hometown, Lonnie Ali lamented that “there is no place on this earth that we are safe as citizens.”

“You always have to be aware of everything going on around you,” said Ali, who is carrying on the humanitarian causes her husband championed. “And it scares me to death — not really so much for me, but for my grandchildren, my children, my friends.”

___ Schreiner reported from Frankfort.

“I have a very close friend that didn’t make it today,” Beshear said, his voice breaking. “And one who’s at the hospital that I hope is going to make it through.”

Earlier Beshear thought two of his friends had been killed, but later learned one had survived.

Beshear said that he banked in the building and that he ran his campaign for attorney general from it. Beshear, a Democrat, served as the state’s attorney general before being elected governor in 2019.

Five people were killed in the shooting; the shooter also died.

“So when we talk about praying, I hope people will, for those that we are hoping can make it through the surgeries that they’re going through,” Beshear said.

He urged people who needed help to reach out.

“There are a lot of people that are hurting today and if we have a place to focus our energy, I hope it is to surround them with the love and the compassion that we have been so good at showing one another,” he said.

“Our bodies and our minds are not meant to go through these types of tragedies,” he said.

Note: Mass shootings are defined as events where at least four people are shot, either injured or killed, not including the shooter, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Source: Gun Violence Archive, 2023 mass shootings
Amy O’Kruk/NBC

Police received reports of a shooter at Old National Bank around 8:30 a.m. CDT, and the first officers arrived to gunshots being fired and ended up in a shootout with the attacker.

The shooter was killed by police in a shootout.

The five victims killed were identified as Juliana Farmer, 45; Tommy Elliott, 63; Jim Tutt, 64; Josh Barrick, 40, and Deanna Eckert, 57.

Among those killed, one was a close friend of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Fighting back tears, the governor told reporters of his personal connection to the shooting.

“This is awful,” Beshear said, adding that his 2015 campaign for attorney general was based at that building. “I have a very close friend who didn’t make it today.”

The assailant was a 25-year-old employee of the bank, according to police. Connor Sturgeon reportedly livestreamed part of the gunfire.

The wounded victims were hospitalized at University of Louisville Hospital in varying conditions, including two Louisville Metro police officers.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said he felt connected to the attack as a survivor himself of a workplace shooting.

“Let’s be clear about what this was. This was an evil act of targeted violence,” he said. “I’m a survivor of a workplace shooting,” Greenberg said.”To the people who survived, whether you are physically hurt or not. I know that you’re hurting too. We’re here for you as well.”

Old National Bank provided a statement to NBC affiliate WAVE.

“The safety of Old National Bank employees and everyone we serve in our banking center locations is paramount,” Ryan said in the statement. “As we await more details, we are deploying employee assistance support and keeping everyone affected by this tragedy in our thoughts and prayers.”

“This could be a night to just set up down in the basement to be safe,” said Tom Philip, a meteorologist in Davenport, Iowa.

The National Weather Service on Tuesday evening began issuing tornado warnings in Iowa and Illinois and said a confirmed twister was spotted southwest of Chicago near Bryant, Illinois. No damage was immediately reported.

The storms were expected to hammer some areas hit by severe weather and possibly dozens of tornadoes just days ago that killed at least 32 people, meaning more misery for those whose homes were destroyed in Arkansas, Iowa and Illinois. Dangerous conditions Tuesday also could stretch into parts of Missouri, southwestern Oklahoma and northeastern Texas. Farther south and west, fire danger remained high.

When a tornado hit Little Rock, Arkansas, last Friday, Kimberly Shaw peeked outside to film the storm, then suffered a painful foot injury that required stiches when a glass door behind her shattered and wind nearly sucked her away. With another storm coming, Shaw said she intends to be far more cautious this time and will rush to an underground shelter at her home.

“The original plan was just, ‘If we see a tornado coming, we’ll get in the shelter,’” Shaw said. “But now it’s like you’re not going to see it coming. You’re not going to hear it coming. You just need to get (inside the shelter) as soon as the warning goes out or if you just feel unsafe.”

Shaw added: “And there will be no videotaping.”

Ryan Bunker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma, predicted that Tuesday’s storm system could start as isolated supercells — with possible tornadoes, wind and hail — and “form into a line (of thunderstorms) and continue moving eastward.”

Earlier Tuesday, strong thunderstorms swept through the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois with winds up to 90 mph (145 kph) and baseball size hail. No injuries were reported but trees were downed and some businesses were damaged in Moline, Illinois.

The weather service and Illinois Emergency Management also said a tornado touched down Tuesday morning in the western Illinois community of Colona. Local news reports showed wind damage to some businesses.

Northern Illinois, from Moline to Chicago, saw 75-80 mph (120-128 kph) winds and hail 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 centimeters) in diameter on Tuesday afternoon, National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Baker said. The agency received reports of semi trucks tipped over by winds in Lee County, about 95 miles (153 km) west of Chicago.

Tuesday’s storms targeted northern Illinois, eastern Iowa and southwest Wisconsin. Areas of southern Missouri and Arkansas were most at risk overnight.

In Keokuk County, Iowa, where 19 homes were destroyed and more were damaged Friday, emergency management official Marissa Reisen worried how those cleaning up the damage will cope if another storm hits.

“All of the people who have been impacted by the storms Friday night are doing all this work, to clean up, to gather their stuff, to pile up the debris,” Reisen said. “If a storm comes through and hits them again and throws all that hard work all over the place again, it will be so deflating to those people.”

Severe storms could produce strong tornadoes and large hail Wednesday across eastern Illinois and lower Michigan and in the Ohio Valley, including Indiana and Ohio, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The weather threat extends southwestward across parts of Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas.

The fierce storms that started Friday and continued into the weekend spawned deadly tornadoes in 11 states as the system plodded through Arkansas and onto the South, Midwest and Northeast.

The same conditions that fueled those storms — an area of low pressure combined with strong southerly winds — were setting up the severe weather Tuesday into early Wednesday, Bunker said.

Those conditions, which typically include dry air from the West going up over the Rockies and crashing into warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, are what make the U.S. so prone to tornadoes and other severe storms.

Dramatic temperature changes were expected, with Tuesday highs of 74 in Des Moines and 86 in Kansas City plunging overnight to 40 or colder overnight. In Little Rock, Arkansas, the high of 89 on Tuesday tied the record for the date set in 1880.

A blizzard warning was in effect for nearly all of North Dakota and most of South Dakota through at least Wednesday night. The National Weather Service predicted parts of South Dakota could see up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) of snow and wind gusts as high as 55 mph (90 kph).

Dozens of schools in South Dakota closed Tuesday due to blizzard conditions. State executive branch offices were also closed in much of the state.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed off on $20 million Tuesday for emergency snow removal grants to localities. Officials reminded residents to check on neighbors and keep their homes stocked with food, water and medicine, have battery-powered radios in case of power outages and ensure gas meters and furnace vents are clear of snow.

In Minnesota, a winter storm warning was in effect in the north, while the southern part of the state expected thunderstorms that could include hail and strong winds. The expected weather led the Minnesota Twins to delay their Major League Baseball home opener from Thursday to Friday.

Fire danger persisted across portions of far western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, northeastern New Mexico and far southeastern Colorado, with low humidity, dry vegetation and high wind gusts. Officials issued a fire warning for Custer County in western Oklahoma and urged some residents near the town of Weatherford to evacuate their homes because of a wildfire.

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Nondice Thurman, a spokesperson for Fort Campbell, said the deaths happened Wednesday night in southwestern Kentucky during a routine training mission.

A statement from Fort Campbell said the two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, part of the 101st Airborne Division, crashed around 10 p.m. Wednesday in Trigg County in southwest Kentucky. The 101st Airborne confirmed the crash about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Fort Campbell.

One helicopter had five people aboard and the other had four, Brig. Gen. John Lubas, the 101st Airborne deputy commander, said Thursday. The helicopters crashed in a field near a residential area with no injuries on the ground, Lubas said.

An Army spokesperson declined to comment on whether the helicopters collided in the air.

“At this time, there is no determination on the specifics regarding the accident,” Daniel Matthews, a public affairs officer for the 101st Airborne Division, said in an emailed statement Thursday afternoon. Matthews said an aviation safety team from Fort Rucker, Alabama, will investigate the accident.

Lubas said it is unclear what caused the crash.

“This was a training progression, and specifically they were flying a multi-ship formation, two ships, under night vision goggles at night,” Lubas said. He said officials believe the accident occurred when “they were doing flying, not deliberate medical evacuation drills.”

The helicopters have something similar to the black boxes on passenger planes, which records the performance of aircrafts in flight and are used by investigators to analyze crashes.

“We’re hopeful that will provide quite a bit of information of what occurred,” Lubas said.

Speaking a news conference Thursday morning, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said the state would do everything it can to support the families of those killed.

“We’re going to do what we always do. We’re going to wrap our arms around these families, and we’re going to be there with them, not just for the days, but the weeks and the months and the years to come,” Beshear said.

The Black Hawk helicopter is a critical workhorse for the U.S. Army and is used in security, transport, medical evacuations, search and rescue and other missions. The helicopters are known to many people from the 2001 movie “Black Hawk Down,” which is about a violent battle in Somalia eight years earlier.

Black Hawks were a frequent sight in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan during the wars conducting combat missions and are also used by the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. They were also often used to ferry visiting senior leaders to headquarters locations in the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones.

Fort Campbell is located near the Tennessee border, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of Nashville, and the crash occurred in the Trigg County, Kentucky, community of Cadiz.

Nick Tomaszewski, who lives about a mile from where the crash occurred, said he saw two helicopters flying over his house moments before the crash.

“For whatever reason last night my wife and I were sitting there looking out on the back deck and I said ‘Wow, those two helicopters look low and they look kind of close to one another tonight,’” he said.

The helicopters flew over and looped back around and moments later “we saw what looked like a firework went off in the sky.”

“All of the lights in their helicopter went out. It was like they just poofed … and then we saw a huge glow like a fireball,” Tomaszewski said.

Flyovers for training exercises happen almost daily and the helicopters typically fly low but not so close together, he said.

“There were two back to back. We typically see one and then see another one a few minutes later, and we just saw two of them flying together last night,” he said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offered his condolences to the families of those killed.

“My heart goes out to the families of these servicemembers and to the members of the 101st Airborne Division who bravely and proudly serve our country each and every day,” Lloyd said in a statement.

In the Kentucky House and in the Senate, members stood for a moment of silence Thursday morning in honor of the crash victims. Kentucky state Rep. Walker Thomas said the crash occurred about 15 to 20 minutes from his home.

“They’re there to protect us,” Thomas said. “And we’re constantly seeing these helicopters flying over our communities.”

Thomas spoke about how connected Fort Campbell soldiers and their families are to the communities near the Army post.

“The Fort Campbell soldiers that live in our communities, go to our churches … they go to our schools, their kids do,” he added. “And this really hurts.”

By Thursday morning, word of the crash was spreading through the community of Clarksville, Tennessee, just outside Fort Campbell.

Chaterra Watts, a former Army soldier who was stationed at Fort Campbell from about 2015 to 2019, said once she heard about the crash, she jumped on social media to try to find out more and if she knew any of the victims.

“I pray for their friends and their families and just hope that we can all come together as a community and that something positive will come out of something so tragic,” Watts said.

Last month, two Tennessee National Guard pilots were killed when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed along an Alabama highway during a training exercise.

The three were part of a group of 10 barges that broke free from their tugboat about 2 a.m. Tuesday after it hit with a structure at the entrance to the Portland Canal, near the river’s McAlpine Locks and Dam, Louisville’s Emergency Management Agency said in a statement. All except for the one carrying methanol were transporting soy and corn.

“There is currently zero evidence of a tank breach or any leaks, and air and water monitoring resources are in place,” the emergency agency said.

The situation prompted officials to limit traffic on the river as state and federal agencies responded and attempted to remove the three barges, U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Chris Davis said.

The Louisville Water Company said the incident was downriver from its intake, and thus there has been no impact on the city’s drinking water.

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