Woman recounts driving through gunfire along I-75 while headed to Knoxville

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — What was supposed to be a casual road trip to Knoxville turned into a terrifying experience for two friends driving through London, Kentucky on Saturday evening.

According to Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched to a gunshot victim complaint on I-75 at exit 49 around 5:30 Saturday evening. A total of nine vehicles were struck by gunfire and five people were injured.

“All of the sudden we heard like a loud – it sounded like an explosion, said Christina DiNoto, who was driving at the time. “It was so loud we both jumped.”

DiNoto said she was driving a friend home from Rochester, NY to Knoxville when they heard what they thought was a rock hitting her car.

“So I turned around, checked it out that nothing was there, and then the car next to us started to slow down and pull over and my friend Jeremy was like, ‘was that a gunshot?'” she said. “And then a few minutes later, we just saw swarms of police and ambulance headed the opposite direction.”

“I would have never in a million years thought that there would be an active shooter on the highway,” she said. “That sounds like something out of a movie.”

At the time, DiNoto said they didn’t know what was happening, but when they arrived back in Knoxville, she assessed the damage.

“On my metal rim, I have, like, really aggressive offroading tires, and there’s a huge divot in my rim. Like, I can put my index finger in it, and then right above that, there’s a bunch of paint that stripped off my rear quarter panel,” she said. “So what I believe happened was that the white truck next to us was shot and pulled over, and then it ricocheted off and hit my vehicle.”

Despite the damage to her car, Dinoto said she is grateful they were unharmed and that she got her friend home safely.

“I was just on a casual road trip and you would never think anything like that would happen. I just think it really puts in perspective what a scary world we’re living in now, you know? And you can’t even go about doing normal things without the threat of violence unfortunately.”

Laurel County Sheriff’s Office has identified 32-year-old Joseph A. Couch as a person of interest . He is described as 5’10” and weighing approximately 154 pounds. They say he considered to be armed and dangerous and should not be approached. Anyone who has any information about Couch’s whereabouts is urged to contact the London-Laurel County 911 center by calling 911 or (606) 878-7000.

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