Authorities are continuing the manhunt for an “armed and dangerous” person of interest involved in the shooting of nine cars on Interstate 75 in a rural area of southeastern Kentucky (about 76 miles south of Lexington), which seriously injured five people. The shooting on Saturday happened around 5 p.m. local time, with the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office reporting that “numerous people were shot” near the highway.
The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said they are looking for a ‘person of interest’ identified as 32-year-old Joseph A. Couch of Woodbine, Ky., who is described as 5-foot-10 and 154 pounds. Authorities are searching for him in a remote area north of London, a community of about 8,000 people roughly 75 miles south of Lexington.
Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, a spokesperson for the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters Sunday: “We’re going to go in and we’re going to find this guy.” Five people were shot and all were in stable condition early Sunday, although some of the victims had “very serious” injuries, including one person who was shot in the face, according to Acciardo. Authorities told local Kentucky news outlet WKYT that the five victims were stable after being flown out of St. Joseph Health in London for treatment, with ABC News later confirming at least two were taken to University of Kentucky HealthCare in Lexington.
Acciardo said that authorities believe there was only one shooter, and they do not think the shooting was sparked by road rage. A photo of Couch was released with a warning to residents to be on the lookout. Acciardo said when troopers arrived at the scene they found numerous vehicles on the side of the highway at Exit 49. An individual who was “off that exit” fired multiple rounds into the northbound and southbound lanes, striking nine vehicles and wounding five people, he said. The shooter was not in a vehicle at the time.
In a video update on Facebook late Saturday night, London Mayor Randall Weddle urged residents to call 911 if they hear or see anything suspicious near their homes: “We’re asking folks please do not go outside your home shooting because we might have first responders in that area. It’s important to know you are safe. We have multiple agencies in this community, in the city of London and in Laurel County.”
On Sunday afternoon, authorities found an AR-15 and fully loaded magazine in a wooded area; and earlier in the day, a vehicle registered to Couch was found nearby. Acciardo told the Courier Journal that Couch could potentially be hiding underneath some road cuts that are blocked from view and the aerial infrared detector.
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