Police are searching the woods near Interstate 75 just north of London, Kentucky, after “numerous persons” were shot on the highway around 6 p.m. near exit 49, officials confirmed Saturday evening. 

Joseph A. Couch, 32, a person of interest in the shooting, is considered armed and dangerous, police said. 

“If you have any information regarding the whereabouts or location on this individual please contact the London-Laurel County 911 Center by calling 911 or 606-878-7000,” the London Police Department said. 

The department warned that Couch shouldn’t be approached. He is described as a White man about 5 foot 10 inches, weighing around 154 pounds. 

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London Mayor Randall Weddle in an update said he had been told that seven people were injured in the shooting, but not all of them were shot.

“Some of them was due to an accident,” he said, adding that no deaths have been reported. 

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said the highway was closed near the exit, which is nine miles north of London.

Police had originally responded to reports that a suspect was shooting at drivers from an overpass or a wooded area, multiple media accounts said. 

Officials told people to avoid the area.  (Laurel County Sheriff’s Office)

London, around 80 miles south of Lexington, Kentucky, has a population of about 7,600. 

Police officers will be escorting ambulances in and out of the area to take shooting victims to hospitals, FOX 56 reported, adding that a police helicopter is available. 

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Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told people to avoid the area. 

The highway is closed between several exits.  (WDKY)

“Kentucky, we are aware of a shooting on I-75 in Laurel County,” Beshear said. “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.”

The governor said he was receiving updates from the Kentucky State Police and the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security. “[T]ogether we are actively monitoring the situation and offering support in any way possible. Please pray for everyone involved,” he wrote. 

The highway was closed between exits 41 and 59, FOX 56 reported, citing the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. 

Weddle added that all first responders at the scene are safe and that both Gov. Beshear’s office and the White House had reached out to offer support. 

“Just keep our first responders in your prayers,” he said. 

“That is some rugged terrain and a lot of treeline,” the mayor added of the search for the suspect. 

He said that residents should be “vigilant” while police search for Couch. “I’m not asking anybody to panic, there is no immediate danger here in the city, but again…we are asking everybody to be safe.” 

London, Kentucky, has a population of about 7,600.  (Fox News)

Of the response from agencies in surrounding communities, he said “this goes back to showing you what a great, great state that we live in, what a great community we live in and all the residents that’s asked ‘What can we do?’”

The city of St. Petersburg, Florida, is allocating $1 million from an opioid settlement to nonprofit organizations working to address the opioid crisis through treatment and recovery support services.

As part of the settlement, St. Petersburg will receive $6 million over 18 years.

The city is looking to fill resource or service gaps in the community and plans to use the money to offer grants for new and innovative proposals that are not already being funded by existing sources, the city said in a news release.

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Grants will be awarded to proposals that offer respite housing, overdose prevention, substance use prevention and education, harm reduction and peer support, with priority given to proposals that focus on respite housing, harm reduction and peer support.

“There’s never enough help for addiction as rates continue to increase,” Matthew Schaefer, the director of operations for Real Recovery Solutions, told Fox 13.

Real Recovery Solutions, which runs sober living facilities in Pinellas County and around the Tampa Bay region, is not eligible for the grant money but does work with non-profits that can use the funds to sponsor someone, the outlet reported.

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As part of the settlement, St. Petersburg will receive $6 million over 18 years. (REUTERS/George Frey/File Photo)

“[Non-profits] will fund maybe two to three weeks of sober living. And give that recovering addict a chance to go find a job and start paying their own rent,” Schaefer said.

One of the biggest needs in the region, according to Schaefer, is making detox treatment more accessible and affordable. Many detox centers are privately funded and require full payment or insurance, but others have long wait lists to get a bed.

Grants will be awarded to proposals that offer respite housing, overdose prevention, substance use prevention and education, harm reduction and peer support. (AP)

“[Addicts] are told, ‘hey, you know, we’re three to five days out from a bed.’ There’s a lack of resources for our underfunded or noninsured community. I think that that could be a big help. Unfortunately, that three to five days could really, truly be life or death,” Schaefer said. 

Nonprofit groups were given until October 20 to apply for grant money through the city of St. Petersburg.

Florida authorities believe they have discovered the body of 21-year-old jogger Arielle Valdes after a five-day search for the missing woman.

Valdes, who was training for a marathon, according to the Fort-Myers News Press, was last seen leaving her home on Wednesday, Aug. 28, to go on a run on the 90th block of Mariana Avenue around 6:30 p.m. in North Fort Myers, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said. 

A Department of Transportation camera captured video of the woman running south on U.S. Route 41 about 15 minutes later, the department said. Another camera captured her running south toward the Edison Bridge just after 6:50 p.m. 

A search by the sheriff’s office and civilians included marine vessels, aviation tools, drone and rapid DNA testing, People reported. 

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A body presumed to be Valdes’ was discovered by search crews along the Caloosahatchee River in North Fort Myers on Monday, Sept. 2.

Preliminary findings do not indicate foul play, the LCSO said. The department could not be reached at press time for further details on Valdes’ cause of death.

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A social media post shared by Valdes’ family during the search said that she had “been having panic attacks as of very recently and has not been speaking much the last week.”

Valdes’ mother told police that she “had been acting strange for the last couple days” and mentioned that “she was hearing demon voices in her head,” according to a police report obtained by the New York Post.

Isabella Hergert, Valdes’ sister, paid tribute in several social media posts.

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Valdes was last seen leaving her home to go on a run along the 90th block of Mariana Avenue around 6:30 p.m. in North Fort Myers, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said. She was captured on Department of Transportation security camera footage around 6:45 p.m.  (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

“Ari you were too good for this world. I love you and I will see you again in every lifetime. You are a piece of my soul that I will always look for,” she wrote.

“My sister was a real life angel,” Hergert wrote in another post. “I know this is all for a greater purpose.”

On the “Finding Arielle Valdes” Facebook group, members of the community were thanked for their search efforts. 

Valdes’ body was found between two bridges on the Caloosahatchee River in North Fort Myers.  (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

“The efforts we made together were widespread and unforgettable, showing just how powerful we can be when we unite for a common cause,” the post read. “In the face of this tragedy, we’ve proven that we are more than just neighbors – we are a true community, bound by our care and commitment to one another.”

A missing poster for Arielle Valdes. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

Originally, a GoFundMe was organized to raise a reward for “the person who provides information to the family or police that leads directly to finding Arielle.” Now, organizer Joseph Sowels wrote in the fundraiser’s description, those funds will go directly to Hergert.

On Thursday, a memorial run in Valdes’ memory was held in Lee County, Wink News reported. 

“I feel an overwhelming amount of love right now from the community, and I just want to say thank you to everyone that is here and organized this,” Hergert said at the event, the outlet reported.