23 Ohio interstate shootings now linked

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Ohio officials Monday linked two weekend interstate shootings south of Columbus with 21 others occurring since May, including one that killed a woman.

Two vehicles were struck within minutes of each other from separate overpasses late Sunday morning along Interstate 71, about 40 miles south of Columbus. No injuries occurred.

Franklin County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Steve Martin said witnesses reported seeing a white man, about 30 or 40 years old, standing with a handgun on an overpass. The man, reported driving a small, dark-colored vehicle, allegedly fired shots from two interstate bridges.

Martin said evidence collected at the scene definitely linked the incidents with the other 21 shootings.

"These freeway shootings are a new phenomenon for us," Martin said. "Unlike a serial murderer, for example, where that individual would target a particular type of victim, we don't have this. As we have told you in the past, we are all over the page on this thing. We have everything that's been shot from a semi-truck to a minivan. And we do not think there is a pattern. This is random. That's exactly what it is. It's a target of opportunity."

In response to one reporter's question, Martin said: "I'm not going to comment on whether he's a good or bad shot. All I can say is he shoots a lot."