By The Opinion
08 Sep 2024, 01:50 AM EDT
Several people were wounded by bullets in a shooting occurred on Saturday on a highway near the city of London, in the southeast of Kentucky, authorities said. Authorities are searching for the gunman.
At about 7 p.m. local time, the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office reported that “numerous people were shot” and that Interstate 75 had been closed about nine miles north of London.
The highway was fully reopened shortly before 9:30 p.m. local time, the sheriff’s office said, but the suspect remained at large.
According to police in London, the town closest to the shooting, The shooting suspect is a 32-year-old man identified as Joseph A. Couch.who fled in a blue Ford pickup truck with a silver roof, according to local media Lex 18 News. They asked the public to call a hotline as soon as they had any information about him.
For unknown reasons, Couch began shooting in the late afternoon from a wooded area or overpass against vehicles traveling on Interstate 75, near exit number 49.
Kentucky State Police told local outlet Courier Journal that The attack has affected “between four and six victims”but it is still unknown how many were injured exactly or how seriously they were injured.
Local police closed that section of the highway and diverted traffic, while authorities issued several calls to avoid the area, and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear asked on his X account to “pray for all those involved.”
Shortly afterward, while attending a Democratic Party dinner, Beshear recalled that Americans should not live in fear of being shot while crossing a bridge“We have to do better,” he said, referring to the controversial issue of gun control, which Republicans and some Democrats oppose because they consider gun ownership a constitutional right.
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