SEYMOUR, Ind., July 23, 2006

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/...r=U.S._1826854

AP) Sniper shootings of two pickup trucks along Interstate 65 in southern Indiana early Sunday left one person dead and another injured, state police said.

A sniper shot at a southbound truck carrying three people about 12:20 a.m., killing one of the passengers, police said. About the same time, occupants of a second southbound truck called police to report a passenger in that vehicle also had been shot.

The victim was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

Authorities closed a 14-mile stretch of the interstate in the area, about 50 miles south of Indianapolis, for about eight hours.

A preliminary investigation could not distinguish whether the shots came from the roadway or an overpass, police said.

"Right now, we haven't made a determination whether it's one person or how many people are involved," Sgt. Jerry Goodin said.

Meanwhile, police also were investigating two other shootings along the interstate about 50 miles northeast of Indianapolis. Those shootings, which occurred about two hours after the first shooting, struck a semitrailer and a parked, unattended car, state police at the Redkey post said. No one was hurt.

"At this time it is unknown whether the shootings in the Seymour and Redkey area are related," Goodin said.

After the first shooting along I-65, the vehicle pulled off the highway at a truck weigh station. While that investigation was under way, the Seymour Police Department received a call from a gas station just off I-65 reporting the second shooting.

I-65, as part of the only direct route between Chicago and Florida, is heavily traveled at all hours, Goodin said. The highway also serves Louisville, Ky., and Nashville, Tenn.

About 2:30 a.m., or two hours after the first shooting, state police at Redkey received their first report of a shooting along I-69 in Delaware County. That shot struck a semitrailer near Muncie.

About an hour later, a shot struck the parked car.

Jag