5 People Injured in Shooting While Driving on Kentucky Highway, Manhunt Launched

Mar. 15, 2025

A manhunt is underway in Kentucky after a man shot and injured five people on a highway before fleeing the scene.

On Saturday, Sept. 7, Laurel County Sheriff Office’s deputies received a call about a shooting that took place off of Interstate 75 in London, Ky. — around 80 miles south of Lexington — at around 5:30 p.m., the sheriff’s office said ina statement on Facebook. Deputies said that nine cars were shot into in both the north- and southbound lanes, leaving five people with serious injuries.

“When our first two units got to the scene there, they said it was a madhouse: people on the sides of the road, emergency flashers going, bullet holes, windows shot out, nine vehicles shot,” Laurel County deputy Gilbert Acciardo said during a news conference on Sunday, Sept. 8, perCBS News. “Can you imagine that? Just chaotic.”

According to the sheriff’s office, officers from the London Police Department (LPD) identified 32-year-old Joseph A. Couch as a “person of interest.” In aFacebook post, the LPD wrote that Couch is a white man who is 5'10" and weighs 154 lbs.

A photo of Joseph A. Couch.London Police Department/Facebook

London Police Department/Facebook

Couch was later upgraded from a person of interest in the case to a suspect,CNNreported, although Acciardo noted to CBS News that investigators “have not determined that this is the individual that fired the weapon.”

“This individual is considered to be armed and dangerous and should not be approached. 911 should be called,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a post.

Laurel County Sheriff’s Office.London Police Department/Facebook

On Sunday, Acciardo told theLouisville Courier Journalthat officials had found an AR-15 gun, a loaded magazine and a silver Honda CRV registered to Couch in a wooded area off the side of the highway.

The car registered to Joseph A. Couch.London Police Department/Facebook

The deputy also told CNN that there were no fatalities in the shooting incident, but that several of the victims were “critically hurt,” including one person who was shot in the face and another who was shot “across the chest.”

Acciardo added that no motive has been discovered yet, but the shooting was seemingly “a planned event.”

“He was not in a vehicle. No, definitely not road rage,” Acciardo told reporters at a news conference, per CNN and CBS News.

London mayor Randall Weddle shared avideo update on Facebookon Saturday night advising the rural city of 8,000 people to be alert and to call 911 if anything suspicious occurred.

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“We are asking everybody in the city limits to be vigilant and know what your surroundings [are]. If you’re home, keep your doors locked,” Weddle said, adding that there was no “immediate danger” in the community.

Laurel County Public Schools alsoannouncedthat school has been canceled for all students in the district on Monday, Sept. 9, amid the manhunt.

Acciardo told CBS News that although officers from several organizations are looking for Couch, the search is proving difficult due to the woody and rocky terrain in the area.

“We do have the area contained right now. It’s a very fluid investigation. Our people are still on the scene. Our special response team is there. We are trying to find a shooter there,” he said.

source: people.com