Authorities pressed into a remote wooded area of Kentucky on Sunday to search for a man wanted in a shooting on an interstate that left five people critically injured and nine vehicles struck by gunfire.
Progress in the search has been slow, officials said, shortly after being called to Interstate 75 at Exit 49, about eight miles north of London, Ky., at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
An AR-15 rifle found in a wooded area off the interstate on Sunday is believed to be the weapon used in the shooting. However, investigators are yet to confirm it, officials said.
Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, a spokesman for the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters All five bullet victims on Sunday were expected to survive. Deputies transported some of the injured to the hospital due to the severity of their injuries, Deputy Acciardo said. Courier Journal.
A motive for the shooting was not immediately clear. Deputy Acciardo said the gunman did not fire at people from a vehicle and the shooting was not a case of road rage.
Officers found a small SUV registered to a person of interest on top of a hill near the interstate Saturday night. The AR-15 was later found “a short distance” from the vehicle Sunday, Deputy Acciardo said. It was unclear to whom the weapon was registered.
He said the gunman may have fired from a wooded area next to the interstate near where the rifle was found.
He described a chaotic scene Saturday night, with several cars parked on the shoulder of the interstate flashing their emergency lights and officials sorting through inaccurate reports of what happened.
Authorities found nine vehicles with bullet damage, including shot out windows and visible bullet holes.
The search for the gunman was postponed until Sunday morning because of the danger to law enforcement officers if they searched the densely wooded area at night.
Officials were relying on 30 to 40 people plus dogs and drones with infrared scanners to help with the search.
“The problem we have is that the foliage is so thick that sometimes it can’t pick up what it wants to pick up in the forest,” the deputy said.
He said the area also has a lot of rocks, which could provide cover for drones and searchers on the ground.
“He could be hiding behind a tree and we walk right up to him,” the deputy said.
Deputy Acciardo said that a A person of interest Authorities had not yet formally named the suspect identified Saturday because there is no video footage or other information that directly links him to the shooting. But, he said, that person “will probably be a suspect before the end of the day.”
Deputy Acciardo said that while authorities believed the man was in the woods, they did not want to rule out that he could be somewhere else. He urged residents to remain vigilant and avoid the search area.
Randall Waddle, Mayor of London, said in a Facebook video Saturday night that authorities were searching in “rugged terrain” in the northern part of Laurel County. The city of London is about 90 miles south of Lexington.
Angel Jarrett was working at a 49er truck stop, near where the shooting took place, when someone told her shots had been fired nearby.
Eventually, multiple police cars surrounded the truck stop and put it on lockdown.
“We’re not allowed in or out,” Ms. Jarrett said. “It’s a little nervous, but we’re fine.”
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