Four to six people were injured by gunfire along a highway in Kentucky, USA, authorities in the US state announced yesterday, stressing that the perpetrator of the crime has not yet been arrested.
The incident began shortly before 6pm local time (around 1am Greek time) when police were called to the area following telephone complaints that vehicles had been targeted on the motorway.
The latest shooting occurred in Laurel County, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of the city of Lexington, along Interstate 75, a major north-south highway that runs halfway across the United States. There were “serious injuries” but no fatalities were reported at this time, local news station WYMT reported, citing the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities have launched a manhunt for Joseph Couch, 32, who they consider a suspect in the attack, describing him as “armed and dangerous.” Part of the highway has been closed in both directions.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, via X, urged state residents to avoid the area, adding that “we will provide more details as they become available.” “Please avoid I-75 (…) until further notice. Use alternate routes and do not go near it,” London City Mayor Randall Weddle said via Facebook.
The US, a country where there are more guns than people, has the highest rate of gun deaths of any developed country in the world.
Gun violence is an increasingly common scourge in the country, where administration after administration has been powerless to take effective action to address it, since the gun lobby is so powerful that many Americans do not even want to hear about imposing restrictions, much less separating them.
Earlier this week, a 14-year-old boy killed two of his classmates, a man and a teacher, with an assault rifle and injured nine others at his school in Winder, Georgia.