They had a description of the car and apparently the license plate number too, from earlier reports. And no doubt every policeman in the state was watching for that vehicle.
If the guy had forgotten about a new-fangled technology called "radio" and just simply hopped on a freeway rather than take evasive measures, well, that would explain this.
I remember being pulled over back in the 80s because my car matched that of a suspect's vehicle. Whatever info they had on him I didn't match the profile so they let me go in very short order.
just simply hopped on a freeway
I drive a truck and have a run I do once a week. 3 hours each way, and I set the cruise at 65 the moment I hit the freeway. My start is 6 blocks from the freeway and my turnaround is 2 blocks from the exit. Not counting time spent at the far end I only average 54 mph. Not sure how far the church is from the on ramp, but if he took time to ditch the gun, "no weapon found" he would still have to be bookin to make a 56-57 mph avg. He could save a little time by throwing it out the window along the way but not much. In the rule of averages it is amazing how much a pause at a stop sign or a stoplight, or time spent going 30 on side streets will drag the avg down.