By James Hannah
The Associated Press

JEFFERSONVILLE - Bullets pierced a van and a Mercedes driving on Interstate 71 Sunday morning near the Jeffersonville outlet malls.

It may be the southernmost attack in the series of sniper-style interstate shootings in the Columbus area since May.

Nobody was injured.

The shootings occurred minutes apart near Prime Outlets, twin malls of more than 100 manufacturer's outlet stores about an hour's drive northeast of Cincinnati.

The shots hit a white van and a dark gray Mercedes Benz. Witnesses said they saw a middle-aged white man in a dark sports car fire a gun from two different highway overpasses about a mile apart and speed off around 11:30 a.m.

Shortly afterward, an Ohio State Highway Patrol officer spotted and chased a dark-colored sports car matching the description witnesses had provided.

Police found a pellet gun under the front seat and briefly detained two juveniles in the car. They released the pair, saying they weren't involved.

Franklin County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Steve Martin stopped short of linking the two cases to the serial gunfire. However, he said they seem consistent with the Interstate 270 shootings, based on initial evidence.

One person has died in the serial shootings, which have targeted vehicles, homes and schools near the highway encircling Columbus.

Martin, who heads the highway shootings investigation, said the shots were fired from two overpasses about one mile apart.

"My understanding from the authorities in Fayette County is that it's a very short jump from one bridge to the other," Martin said at a news conference in Columbus.

He said the descriptions supplied by witnesses were the most detailed investigators had received. A driver on Interstate 71 called the Fayette County Sheriff's dispatcher to report seeing a person standing next to a black car on an overpass, according to a recording released to the media.

"I don't know. It looks like he just got out of the vehicle," the caller said.

"It looks like a black sports car," the caller later added.

"These people are very lucky," said State Highway Patrol dispatcher Jerri Redfern. "It's awfully scary to see this happening."

One lane of I-71 northbound was closed in the area of the shootings while officers searched the area, Redfern said. The closure caused traffic to back up several miles.

Most of the sniper shootings have occurred in an area of I-270 and I-71 on the south side of Columbus.

But the last two that have been linked by authorities have occurred on I-71 south of the area, including a van that was shot Tuesday. Ballistics tests showed that the bullet was one of at least eight to come from the same gun.

Authorities said the shot in that case came from an overpass. In another shooting, the driver said the shot came from an overpass and he saw a person standing in shadows.

At the Flying J travel plaza about a mile from the shootings, a bullet hole was visible in the hood of the Mercedes, about six inches from its windshield.

After being questioned by a patrol investigator, a man walked back to his car, saying, "I got shot at."

He declined to answer questions.

Patrol investigator Alan Derikito said the driver was from Mansfield. He would not identify him any further.

"He was pretty calm when I talked to him," Derikito said.

Motorist Steve Elsa, who was pumping gas at the Flying J, said he regularly takes Interstate 71 to the I-270 outer belt around Columbus.

"You just don't think about it," said Elsa, 47, of Canal Winchester. "A lot of times, you are about halfway through and you're thinking, 'Oh you know, I should be looking at the overpasses."'

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Reid Forgrave of the Enquirer contributed to this report.