A vicious shooting on Saturday on a Kentucky highway seriously injured five people. Now, authorities are searching for a suspect. Authorities described him as both "armed and dangerous."
"Deputies found nine vehicles had been shot into both north and southbound on I-75 and five persons were seriously injured," the sheriff's office said in a statement.
In a statement via NBC News, Kentucky State Police and the Laurel County Sheriff's Office named 32-year-old Joseph A. Couch. They describe the man as being about 5 feet, 10 inches and 154 pounds. He's Caucasian.
At this time, I'm refraining from labeling Couch as the alleged gunman in the shooting. There's more information to be gathered in the near-deadly shooting. However, authorities consider him dangerous and the prime suspect. Authorities found a vehicle near the area of the Kentucky highway shooting on Saturday. This led them to identify Couch as a person of interest.
Suspect In Kentucky Highway Shooting
Police are looking for him. They believe that he's in a remote area and are trying to track him down. Michael E. Stansbury, special agent in charge of the Louisville FBI office, said that he's pretty sure that's their guy.
"We have solid evidence. His vehicle was at the scene. A firearm that he purchased yesterday was at the scene" Stansbury said. "We have interviewed people; we feel pretty confident this is the individual."
Within the vehicle, authorities found a gun case. They also later found an AR-15 as well. They're processing the gun to see if it was the weapon used in the highway shooting. Deputy Gilbert Acciardo described the finds as a lucky break.
"We'll have to let ballistics tell us whether it was or was not," Acciardo said. "There were several magazines in there as well, fully charged magazines."
The deputy said all five people injured are stable and should survive their injuries. "No one was killed from this, thankfully," London Mayor Randall Weddle said in a video posted to Facebook. "But we ask that you continue to pray."
Authorities are confident they will find Couch.
"I just feel like we're getting him today, I really do," he said on Sunday. But the search has entered its third day on Monday.
Meanwhile, Saint Joseph London Hospital treated multiple patients for gunshot wounds. The hospital also said it was devastated by the tragedy. "We are devastated by the events that occurred along Interstate 75 in Laurel County, Kentucky Saturday night," the hospital said.
