OAN Staff Abril Elfi
12:03 PM – Sunday, September 8, 2024
A search for a person of interest in a Kentucky freeway shooting that injured seven people is still ongoing.
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Authorities said that they were still looking for a person of interest in the shooting that happened on a Kentucky freeway Saturday night, which resulted in nine vehicles being shot at, seven people being injured, and an automobile crash that closed the interstate for several hours.
Joseph A. Couch, 32, has been identified as the person of interest wanted for questioning. According to the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, Couch is “considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached.”
Couch is thought to still be in the area, according to Laurel County Sheriff’s Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, who made the announcement during a press conference on Sunday morning. Couch is said to have fled the freeway shooting near London, Kentucky.
“We’re not listing him as a suspect at this point, but he will more than likely be a suspect before day’s end,” Acciardo said.
According to Acciardo, the shooting was “sniper-like,” and it wasn’t the product of road rage or random acts. He said the gunman did not know any of the victims or have any prior contact with them.
He continued saying that up to 60 members of law enforcement searched the area of the shooting until 3 a.m. Sunday before stopping the search out of safety concerns. The search for Couch resumed at 9 a.m. local time Sunday, Acciardo said.
According to authorities, the shooting started around 5:30 p.m. local time on Interstate 75, close to exit 49, which is located about eight miles north of London.
Nine vehicles had been shot in both the north and southbound lanes of I-75 when arriving deputies discovered this, Laurel County Sheriff John Root said at a late-night press conference on Saturday.
Five people with serious gunshot wounds, including one to the face, were discovered by deputies, according to Root. He said that two shot victims were inside one vehicle.
According to Acciardo, all of the victims had non-life-threatening wounds and were in stable condition.
“A couple of our deputies, because of the severity of the injuries, loaded the people up, the injured persons, and transported them to London Hospital,” Root said.
Authorities said that a car accident that happened during the shooting injured two more people.
Root said that I-75 was immediately closed in both directions and that deputies were unaware of the source of the bullets at the time.
Following the shooting, law enforcement personnel worked to secure the area and gather evidence, which resulted in the closure of Interstate 75 for over three hours.
A motive for the shooting remained under investigation.
The FBI, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives are assisting local authorities in the investigation, officials said.
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