A manhunt is underway in Kentucky after a number of people were shot along a highway near the city of London on Saturday.

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office has named 32-year-old Joseph A Couch as a person of interest, and warned the public he is considered armed and dangerous.

The incident began at about 18:00 local time (22:00 GMT), when police responded to a report of vehicles being fired upon near Interstate 75.

According to local media, shots may have been fired from a wooded area near to the highway, or from an overpass.

It is not yet known if there are any fatalities, or how many people have been injured.

In an earlier statement, Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said that “numerous persons” had been shot.

A spokesperson for the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington told the BBC’s US news partner, CBS News that it had received at least two patients from the incident so far, but there was no word on their conditions.

Trooper Scottie Pennington, a Kentucky State Police spokesperson, urged residents in the area to stay inside.

Members of the public have been warned not to approach the person of interest.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives also confirmed it was involved in the search.

Earlier, Kentucky’s Governor Andy Beshear wrote on social media that law enforcement had “shut the interstate down in both directions” near to where the shooting happened.

He said the area should be avoided, and urged the public to “pray for everyone involved”.

London is a small city of about 8,000 residents near the Daniel Boone National Forest.