Authorities are searching for shooters along I-75 in southeastern Kentucky. Up to 7 people were injured

LONDON, Ky, Sept. 8 (AP): A manhunt was underway early Sunday morning as police searched for a gunman in a rural area of ​​southeastern Kentucky near Interstate 75. Authorities said seven people were injured in the shooting and a car crash that accompanied the violence. Saturday’s shooting followed an intensive search for a suspect by several law enforcement agencies.

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that it was an “active shooting” and that “numerous people” were shot near the highway. Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, a spokesman for the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, said authorities were notified of gunfire along Interstate 75 around 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

When they arrived at the scene in London, a small town of about 8,000 people located about 75 miles south of Lexington, they found numerous vehicles on the side of the road at Exit 49. “When our first two units got there, they said it was a madhouse: people on the side of the road, hazard lights on, bullet holes, windows shot out, nine vehicles with gunshot wounds.”

Can you imagine? Just chaotic,” Acciardo said during a news conference Sunday. Five people were shot and all were in stable condition early Sunday, although some of the victims suffered “very serious” injuries, including one person who was shot in the face, Acciardo said. Two other people were injured in the car crash, he said.

Police closed traffic on the highway in both directions because they didn’t know where the bullets came from. “We’re still trying to figure that out,” Acciardo said. Authorities believe there was only one shooter, and Acciardo said they don’t believe the shooting was sparked by road rage. Officers from several police agencies searched a remote wooded area but eventually called off the search because of darkness. The search will resume at daybreak Sunday, he said.