CNN
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Residents are urged to remain vigilant as the manhunt continues for an “armed and dangerous” person in connection with the shooting that injured five people on a highway in a rural area of ​​Laurel County, Kentucky, on Saturday, authorities said.

Nine vehicles were shot at on northbound and southbound Interstate 75 and five people were struck by gunfire around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said. All five victims are in stable condition, sheriff’s spokesman Gilbert Acciardo told CNN.

Joseph A. Couch was identified as one of the people involved in the incident, London police said. He is described as a white male, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing approximately 150 pounds, police said.

“We know the area where this individual is,” London Mayor Randall Weddle said in a video update Saturday evening, adding that he would not provide further details. The mayor had previously said authorities were searching in “rugged terrain and many tree lines,” which could hamper their efforts.

It is unclear what caused the shooting. “The investigation has begun and a suspect has been identified. The search for this suspect is ongoing,” the sheriff’s office said.

“The crime scene will be cordoned off overnight and the search and further investigation will begin at daybreak Sunday morning,” the sheriff’s office said.

The shooting sparked a multi-agency search for the gunman, as the highway was closed for hours “due to the danger to passing vehicles in the area of ​​the shooting,” the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said. The FBI, U.S. Marshal Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting in the search, according to the sheriff’s office.

Authorities urged people to stay indoors and remain vigilant as the search continues.

“If you think you hear something outside your home, please do not go outside and shoot,” Weddle said. “Our officers or first responders may be in the area. Call 911.”

The gun violence caused chaos in Saturday’s traffic just days after a mass shooting at a high school in Winder, Georgia, killed four people and hospitalized nine others – and less than a week after a gunman injured half a dozen people on a Seattle-area highway.

“I am receiving initial reports from the Kentucky State Police and our Homeland Security Office – together we are actively monitoring the situation and offering assistance in any way possible,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said in a statement. “Please pray for everyone involved.”

A woman who was driving with a friend on Interstate 75 from Rochester, New York, to Knoxville, Tennessee, revealed harrowing details about the shooting in an interview with CNN.

When they reached London, she and her friend heard a “loud noise,” according to Christina DiNoto.

“We were just driving along and suddenly it was like a rock came through my back window and my ear hurt,” DiNoto said. “And we looked at each other and thought:

“Was that a shot? And then we say, ‘No, that wasn’t a shot.'”

DiNoto said she noticed a truck driving next to her car slow down and pull onto the shoulder of the highway, so she initially thought there had been a tire blowout. She said they saw several police cars drive by at a high rate of speed and “so many” tires on the side of the highway.

It wasn’t until about an hour and a half later that DiNoto and her friend learned of the shooting. When they arrived at a friend’s house, they noticed what looked like scratches on the back of her car.

“My hands are still shaking,” said DiNoto, who added that she feels incredibly lucky.