At least seven people were wounded in yet another mass shooting in the United States after an unidentified opened fire at interstate 75 (I-75) highway in a rural area south of Lexington in the state of Kentucky on Saturday evening. Authoritoes are searching rugged terrain near a national forest for a suspect, according to media reports. 

The incident was reported just before 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) about nine miles outside of the town of London, when gunshots were fired from a wooded area or an overpass at vehicles traveling on Interstate 75 in Laurel County, according to a report by news agency Reuters.

In a Facebook post later, Mayor Randall Weddle of London, a small city of about 8,000 near the Daniel Boone National Forest, said that seven people were injured, including some who were shot. As per Weddle, there were no known fatalities. The Mayor also asked people in the area to "keep your doors locked while this guy is on the loose."

London, KY Mayor Randall Weddle gives a live update on the situation, reassuring the community that they are safe and encouraging people to stay home and be vigilant.#London #Kentucky #Shooting #Breaking pic.twitter.com/v33ibihB9d

— Raw Reporting (@Raw_Reporting) September 8, 2024

As per the Reuters report, a stretch of highway near the Kentucky shootings was closed but later reopened even though the suspect was still at large. Avout 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."

The shooting comes days after four people, including two students and two teachers, were killed, and nine others wounded, at a high school in Winder, Georgia high school. A 14-year-old student and his father, suspected of giving his son access to the gun used in the shooting, were charged in the shootings.