Schools closed and people told to 'lock doors' as search for Kentucky shooter enters third day | US News

In the southern United States, schools were closed and residents were asked to lock their doors as the manhunt for a gunman who opened fire on a busy highway entered its third day.

Five people were injured and 12 vehicles were hit by bullets after traffic was shot at on Interstate 75 (I-75) in southeastern Kentucky on Saturday around 5.30 p.m. local time.

The attack occurred near London, a town of about 8,000 residents in a rural area of ​​the state, about 120 kilometers south of the state capital of Lexington.

Police named former National Guard soldier Joseph Couch, whom they had originally identified as a suspect, as a suspect.

Officers spotted an SUV belonging to him on a side road near the crime scene and later found a semi-automatic rifle they believe was used in the shooting “in a location where firing could have been done on the highway,” said Deputy Sheriff Gilbert Acciardo.

With the shooter still at large, more than a dozen local school districts and private schools, including in Laurel, Jackson and Clay counties, canceled classes Monday, reported Lex18, an NBC News-affiliated news channel.

London Mayor Randle Weddle urged residents to “lock doors, leave porch lights on and monitor security cameras.”

Police officers from across the state of Kentucky were called in to help search a rugged hillside area about eight miles from the city.

Spokesman Master Trooper Scottie Pennington said the search was like “walking through the jungle with machetes, which you need to cut through dense forest.”

As darkness fell on Sunday night, the search was temporarily suspended but was scheduled to resume on Monday morning.

Laurel County Sheriff John Root said Sunday: “We're not going to give up until we get our hands on him. We're doing everything we can. Just be confident.”

Deputy Acciardo said, “If this continues, it's going to be more and more stressful for the community, it's going to be more and more stressful for the officers there because we're looking… and we're trying to find him, and we haven't found him.”

Mr Acciardo said it appeared that the attacker had planned the shooting at the location because it was very remote and the terrain was hilly, rocky and difficult to walk on.

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Couch, 32, bought the gun and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition in London on Saturday morning, authorities said.

Couch has a military background and has served in the National Guard for at least four years, said Captain Richard Dalrymple of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office.