A manhunt is underway in Kentucky after several individuals were shot on a highway near the city of London on Saturday.
The event began about 17:30 local time (21:30 GMT). Police arrived and discovered nine automobiles had been fired along Interstate 75.
According to the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, seven people have been hurt, five of them critically.
Mayor Randall Weddle of London stated that not all of these injuries were caused by gunshots and that no one had died.
Police have identified Joseph A. Couch, 32, as a person of interest, saying he is armed and dangerous.
Mr. Couch, of Woodbine, Kentucky, is 5’10” (178 cm) tall and weighs about 154 pounds (70 kg).
According to officers, bullets were fired at automobiles traveling in both directions on the highway.
I-75 was stopped for several hours due to the threat to passing vehicles.
According to local media, shots could have been fired from a wooded area along the highway or from an overpass.
“The suspect or suspects have not been apprehended at this time, but they are looking for them,” stated Mayor Randall in a Facebook video uploaded around 21:30 local time.
“Where they are currently, that is some rugged terrain and a lot of tree lines,” he pointed out.
Christina DiNoto, who was driving on I-75 with a companion at the time of the incident, told CNN that “it was like a rock went through my back window” and injured her ear.
“We stared at each other and asked, ‘Was that a gunshot?’ And then we said, ‘No, that wasn’t a gunshot.'”
She claimed it was just an hour and a half later that they discovered it had been a shooting.
Later on Friday, the Mount Vernon Fire Department announced that a section of the highway near where the shooting occurred was reopened after being closed for around three hours.
A representative for the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington informed the BBC’s US partner, CBS News, that at least two people had been admitted as a result of the event, but no information about their illnesses was available.
Trooper Scottie Pennington, a Kentucky State Police spokesperson, advised residents in the region to stay inside.
Members of the public have been advised not to approach the person of interest.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives confirmed their involvement in the search.
Earlier, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear posted on social media that law officers had “shut down the interstate in both directions” near the shooting location.
He advised the people to “pray for everyone involved” and avoid the area.
London is a small city of 8,000 people near the Daniel Boone National Forest.
