I-435 reopened to traffic after KCPD returns to scene of fatal wreck near Arrowhead
Northbound traffic on Interstate 435 near Eastwood Trafficway has reopened after Kansas City police spent several hours reconstructing the crash that killed a Shawnee Mission South High School student the day before.
Three lanes of I-435 were reopened before 1 p.m., according to state transportation officials. Police had closed down several lanes of traffic just before 11:30 a.m. as a part of their investigation.
Shawnee Mission School District officials confirmed Monday that Chandan Rajanna died when an off-duty officer in a Kansas City Police Department van rear-ended the car he was riding in Sunday amid Chiefs football game traffic.
Rajanna, who died at the scene, was a senior and played on the school’s football team. He was scheduled to graduate in May, according to school officials.
His father and sister also were injured in the wreck and were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
Police released no new details Monday morning about what led to the crash as the investigation continued.
The wreck Sunday happened just after 4 p.m. when an off-duty Kansas City police officer in a department van rear-ended another vehicle in the northbound lanes of I-435 just south of Stadium Drive.
The officer driving the van was injured, police said. His name has not been released.
On Sunday, a police spokesman said the officer was off-duty and was on his way to Arrowhead Stadium. It is not clear if the officer was scheduled to work off-duty at the stadium.
The police van, a blue Ford E350, came upon slow traffic that was lining up on the way to Arrowhead Stadium, according to police.
The van ran into the rear of a Maroon Mitsubishi Lancer driven by Rajanna, knocking it into a white Ford Edge, which was forced into a black Chevy Suburban.
The police van hit both the Mitsubishi and the Ford Edge before stopping to the north of all three other vehicles in the crash.
This story was originally published October 22, 2018 at 12:16 PM.