Kentucky police were searching rugged terrain near a national forest for a suspect after at least seven people were wounded by gunfire while driving down the rural stretch of an interstate highway, officials said.
The incident began just before 6pm local time (11pm Irish time) about 14km outside of the town of London, when officers responded to reports of gunshots directed at vehicles traveling on Interstate 75 in Laurel County. The shots came from a wooded area or an overpass, according to local media reports.
Mayor Randall Weddle of London, a small city of about 8,000 near the Daniel Boone National Forest, about 145km south of Lexington, said in a post on Facebook that seven people were injured, including some who were shot.
He said there were no known fatalities. Police offered no further details about the number or nature of any casualties.
Mr Weddle asked everyone in the area to “keep your doors locked while this guy is on the loose.”
The shooting comes days after two students and two teachers were killed, and nine others wounded, at a high school in Winder, Georgia. A 14-year-old student and his father, suspected of giving his son access to the gun used in the shooting, have been charged in relation to the attack.
A stretch of highway near the Kentucky shootings was closed but later reopened even though the suspect was still at large.
About three hours after the shooting, the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office named a “person of interest” who it said was “armed and dangerous” and cautioned the public not to approach the 32-year-old man.
“The suspect has not been caught at this time and we are urging people to stay inside,” Trooper Scottie Pennington of the Kentucky State Police wrote on Facebook.
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called to assist the state police and local law enforcement, the federal agency posted on X, calling it a “critical incident.”
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear wrote on X: “Kentucky, we are aware of a shooting on I-75 in Laurel County. Please avoid the area. We will provide more details once they are available.”
He also asked that residents, “Please pray for everyone involved.”
Kentucky, we are aware of a shooting on I-75 in Laurel County. Law enforcement has shut the interstate down in both directions at exit 49. Please avoid the area. We will provide more details once they are available.
— Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) September 7, 2024
Gun violence is common in the United States, a country where there are more firearms than people.
Despite polls showing Americans favour more gun restrictions, a powerful gun rights lobby, constitutional protections and a passionate culture around firearm ownership mean that attempts to clamp down on gun rights are always met with stiff political resistance.
A 2022 gun safety package passed by Congress was the most notable in decades, beefing up background checks and supporting states that passed so-called “Red Flag” laws, which allow for the seizure of weapons from people deemed high risk.
Still, advocates say much more needs to be done.
That same year, over 48,000 people died as a result of firearms, according to the surgeon general, which this year issued a landmark advisory declaring gun violence a “public health crisis.”
Gun rights and gun violence regularly feature in elections.
Republican candidate Donald Trump, seen by his party as a champion for gun rights, posted on social media that “our hearts are with the victims” of the Georgia shooting.
Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, a onetime prosecutor and attorney general of California and former US senator, called on Congress to “finally” pass an assault weapons ban.
It would be similar to the one President Joe Biden helped write as a senator and get passed into law in 1994. It expired after a decade, without being renewed by Congress.