International Courant
Investigators say an AR-15 rifle was utilized in a taking pictures on a Kentucky freeway Saturday evening, leaving seven individuals injured and 9 automobiles riddled with bullet holes. A seek for a suspect continued close to the scene Sunday afternoon, authorities stated.
The suspect wished for questioning was recognized as 32-year-old Joseph A. Sofa. Based on the Laurel County Sheriff’s Workplace, he’s “thought of armed and harmful and shouldn’t be approached.”
The sheriff’s workplace has launched a photograph of Sofa, who reportedly fled the scene of the taking pictures on a freeway close to London, Kentucky, and is believed to nonetheless be within the space, Laurel County Sheriff’s Deputy Gilbert Acciardo stated throughout a information convention Sunday morning.
This handout photograph, created and launched by the Mount Vernon Fireplace Division, reveals visitors backed up on Interstate 75 throughout a taking pictures incident close to London, Kentucky, on Sept. 7, 2024.
Mount Vernon Fireplace Division/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
“We aren’t contemplating him a suspect at this level, however it’s seemingly that he will likely be a suspect by the top of the day,” Acciardo stated.
On Sunday afternoon, Acciardo stated Sofa’s automobile was situated within the space of the Saturday evening taking pictures. He additionally stated officers looking out the world discovered an AR-15 rifle within the woods close to the freeway.
The weapon, which investigators consider was used within the freeway taking pictures, was present in a location the place a shooter “may have fired from that wooded location onto the freeway,” Acciardo stated.
“It is a random act,” Acciardo stated when requested a couple of potential motive for the taking pictures.
Police have obtained greater than 100 calls from individuals reporting potential sightings of Sofa, Acciardo stated. He stated authorities consider Sofa is hiding within the woods close to the freeway.
Acciardo described the taking pictures as “sniper-like” and stated it was not the results of highway rage. He stated investigators don’t consider the shooter knew any of the victims or had contact with them earlier than the taking pictures.
Acciardo stated about 60 cops searched the world of the taking pictures till 3 a.m. Sunday, when the search was suspended for security causes. He stated the freeway was pitch black and the terrain the place the search was happening was very tough.
The seek for Sofa resumed at 9 a.m. native time on Sunday, Acciardo stated.
The FBI, the U.S. Marshal’s Service and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are helping native authorities with the investigation, officers stated.
The taking pictures occurred round 5:30 p.m. native time on Interstate 75, close to Exit 49, about eight miles (13 kilometers) north of London, officers stated.
Officers arriving on the scene discovered 9 automobiles shot at in each the northbound and southbound lanes of I-75, Laurel County Sheriff John Root stated at a information convention late Saturday evening.
Root stated officers discovered 5 individuals with critical gunshot wounds, together with one who had been shot within the face. He stated there have been two individuals in a single automobile who had been shot.
Acciardo stated Sunday that not one of the victims suffered life-threatening accidents and that their situation was secure.
“A couple of of our officers, because of the severity of the accidents, bundled up the injured and took them to London Hospital,” Root stated.
This nonetheless from a video reveals emergency automobiles on an exit ramp of I-75 in London, Kentucky, Sept. 7, 2024.
WTQV
Authorities stated two extra individuals had been injured in a automobile crash that occurred through the taking pictures.
Root stated I-75 was instantly shut down in each instructions. He stated officers did not know on the time the place the bullets had been coming from.
“We could not threat anybody else getting shot,” Root stated.
The sheriff wouldn’t say why Sofa is a suspect within the taking pictures, however stated it was “based mostly on our investigation on the scene.”
Based on him, preliminary stories that the taking pictures was the results of a highway rage incident had been incorrect.
Root stated Sofa has an handle in Woodbine, Kentucky, and the sheriff’s workplace described him as about 5 toes 10 inches tall and 150 kilos.
Interstate 75 was closed for greater than three hours after the taking pictures as cops secured the scene and picked up proof.
This handout photograph, created and launched by the Mount Vernon Fireplace Division, reveals emergency automobiles on Interstate 75 throughout a taking pictures incident close to London, Kentucky, Sept. 7, 2024.
Mount Vernon Fireplace Division
Root didn’t instantly disclose what kind of weapon investigators consider was used within the crime.
The motive for the taking pictures remains to be being investigated.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear stated in a assertion about X that he’s monitoring the state of affairs.
Christina Dinoto stated in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Sunday that she was driving with a good friend on I-75 towards Tennessee when the taking pictures broke out.
“Unexpectedly we heard this loud, deafening sound,” Dinoto stated. “And my ear, my proper ear, began ringing, and we did not know what the sound was, however we checked out one another and stated, was {that a} gunshot?”
Dinoto stated that when she pulled off the freeway in Knoxville, she seen injury to her automobile that she suspects was brought on by a bullet ricocheting off one other automobile.
The Kentucky taking pictures got here lower than per week after six individuals had been injured in six shootings that occurred Sept. 2 on Interstate 5 in Washington state between 8:26 p.m. and 11:01 p.m. native time, officers stated. A suspect whose automobile was wished in reference to a number of of the shootings was arrested Sept. 3 within the Tacoma space, police stated.
ABC Information’ Alex Presha contributed to this report.
