Police in Kentucky search for shooter after five people injured on busy highway

Joseph A. Couch, 32, was named a suspect in Saturday's shooting on Interstate 75 after authorities found his SUV on a side 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 spokesman for the Laurel County Sheriff's Office.

The search focused on the remote area around the shooting scene north of London, a community of about 8,000 people about 75 miles south of Lexington.

“We're going to go in and find this guy,” Mr. Acciardo told reporters as police officers rushed to find Couch before it got dark in the remote, heavily wooded area.

Authorities believe Couch is armed and dangerous and warned passersby who might see him not to approach.

Couch is from Woodbine, a small community about 20 miles south of the crime scene.

Mr. Acciardo said police had targeted him on Saturday after they found his abandoned vehicle. Investigators found an AR-15 rifle in a raised wooded area next to the highway on Sunday “from which he could have fired into the highway,” Mr. Acciardo said.

Couch was initially considered a person of interest in the case until he was upgraded to a suspect on Sunday based on “everything” law enforcement has discovered so far, Acciardo said.

Authorities believe there was only one gunman, and Mr Acciardo said they do not believe the shooting was sparked by road rage. He said it appeared to be a “random act of violence”.

“There has been some speculation, but we are not prepared to comment on it at this point,” he said.

Mr Acciardo said authorities were notified of gunshots along the highway near Exit 49 around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

A person who was “off that exit” fired several shots into the northbound and southbound lanes, hitting nine vehicles and injuring five people, he said.

“When our first two units arrived on the scene, they said it was a madhouse: people on the side of the road, hazard lights on, bullet holes, windows shot out, nine vehicles shot at. Can you imagine? Just chaos,” Acciardo said during a press conference.

The injured – one person from Kentucky and the others from other states – were in stable condition in hospital early Sunday. Some had “very serious” injuries, including one who was shot in the face, Acciardo said.

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

Mr. Acciardo said authorities had been “bombarded” with over a hundred calls from people claiming to have seen Couch in places such as a grocery store. Laurel County deputies urged area residents to stay home during the search.