The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - Authorities investigating a series of highway shootings are looking at disciplinary and attendance records of schools in the area on the city's south side, a sheriff's official said Saturday.

Investigators have connected 18 shootings, most in the last two months. The only person to be struck by a gunshot was a 62-year-old woman killed on Nov. 25 while riding in a car on Interstate 270. Most of the shootings have taken place on or near the interstate circling Columbus.

One of the shootings broke a window at Hamilton Central Elementary School at 1:35 a.m. on Nov. 11. Investigators still believe the shooter or shooters may have a connection to the school or surrounding neighborhood, Franklin County sheriff's Chief Deputy Steve Martin said. Two buses were hit by gunfire at another school on Dec. 17 - the last of the shootings to be reported. Investigators are checking the records at Hamilton Central and other area schools for students with disciplinary problems or who may have been absent on the days of shootings.