By Rich McKay
Kentucky police are searching rugged terrain near a national forest for a suspect after at least seven people were wounded by gunfire while driving down the rural stretch of an interstate highway, officials say.
An active shooter has been reported near Interstate-75 in London in the US state of Kentucky. File picture. Photo: 123RF
The incident began just before 6pm (local time) about 14km outside of London, when officers responded to reports of gunshots directed at vehicles on Interstate 75 in Laurel County. The shots came from a wooded area or an overpass, according to local media reports.
Mayor Randall Weddle of London, a small city of about 8000 near the Daniel Boone National Forest, about 145km (90 miles) south of Lexington, said in a post on Facebook that seven people were injured, including some who were shot. He said there were no known fatalities. Police offered no further details about the number or nature of any casualties.
Weddle asked everyone in the area to "keep your doors locked while this guy is on the loose."
This shooting comes just days after two students and two teachers were killed, and nine others wounded, at a mass shooting at a Winder, Georgia high school. A 14-year-old student and his father, suspected of giving his son access to the gun used in the shooting, were charged in the shootings, which took place soon after the school year opened.
A stretch of highway near the Kentucky shootings was closed but later reopened even though the suspect was still at large.
About three hours after the shooting, the Laurel County Sheriff's Office named a "person of interest" who it said was "armed and dangerous" and cautioned the public not to approach the 32-year-old man.
"The suspect has not been caught at this time and we are urging people to stay inside," Kentucky state Trooper Scottie Pennington wrote on Facebook.
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been called in to assist the Kentucky State Police and local law enforcement, the agency posted on X, calling it a "critical incident."
- Reuters