Mourning sportswriter Dennis Sharkey after shooting, loved ones urge witnesses to speak
On Saturday, Jan. 11, Dennis Andrew Sharkey Jr. was supposed to be at his aunt’s house for a late 50th birthday celebration, enjoying a plate of German chocolate cake.
Instead, Sharkey’s loved ones are now planning a funeral — and urging on the search for Sharkey’s killer.
A group of about 20 friends and relatives gathered outside GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Tuesday afternoon to call for justice for the sportswriter and avid Kansas City Chiefs fan.
Sharkey, of Liberty, was fatally shot on Interstate 29 on Friday evening, the day after he turned 50. Sharkey’s community is asking anyone with information about his death to come forward.
“He was a great man, and he always made you smile,” Sharkey’s cousin Samantha Sharkey said at Tuesday’s gathering. “If you saw anything, please don’t be afraid. It would help us a lot.”
Kansas City police responded to I-29 near N.W. 72nd Street around 7 p.m. after receiving reports that a car had been run off the road, according to Capt. Jake Becchina, a Kansas City Police Department spokesperson. Sharkey’s car, a white 2019 Chevrolet Spark, was found at the bottom of an embankment on the side of the highway.
Inside the car, Sharkey was found with a gunshot wound. He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
KCPD passed the investigation into Sharkey’s death to the Platte County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday, as the shooting happened outside of city limits. Both entities believe that Sharkey was driving south on I-29 before the shooting, coming from northern Platte County.
As of Monday, no suspect has been publicly identified and no arrest has been made.
A ‘senseless’ shooting
Samantha Sharkey and other friends and relatives said they feel Sharkey’s death was “senseless” and seemingly random. Some believe the shooting might have been the result of road rage.
A cautious driver, Sharkey was known for sticking to the speed limit, almost to a fault, said Sadie Grigsby. Sharkey had been a longtime friend of her mother, Grigsby said, and she had grown up with him as a “bonus uncle.”
“He’s not the type of person to ever get wrapped up in anything like this,” Grigsby said. “It doesn’t make any sense. This is one of the most messed up things we’ve had to go through as a group.”
Sharkey was a sportswriter for the Platte County Citizen, where he primarily covered high school sports north of the Missouri River. Many of the young athletes he covered knew Sharkey fondly, said Grigsby’s mother Olivia Gaw.
On the night of his death, Samantha Sharkey said, Sharkey may have been on the way home from covering a high school girls’ wrestling match in Faucett, 16 miles north of Platte City.
Previously, Sharkey worked at several other regional newspapers in Kansas and Misosuri, including the Mexico Ledger, Mound City News and Oskaloosa Independent.
“He got ran out of a lot of small towns for uncovering stuff,” said Richard Brand, Gaw’s partner and Sharkey’s longtime friend.
Though Sharkey reported on all kinds of topics before his stint as a Platte County sports journalist, he had always been a passionate Kansas City sports fan, friends and relatives said. Along with the Kansas City Royals and the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats, Sharkey was devoted to the Chiefs, tailgating with the group in Lot C before almost every game.
“If the Chiefs told him to get loud, he got loud,” Brand said.
Police, friends and family are asking people to come forward if they saw Sharkey in the Chevrolet Spark between 6:30 and 7 p.m. Friday. They are also asking residents to come forward if they saw or heard anything of note in the area of I-29 between Barry Road and NW 72nd Street Friday night.
Those with information relevant to Sharkey’s death can call 816-474-TIPS and may be eligible for a reward up to $2,000.
“It’s 2025. There’s dashcams,” Grigsby said. “The smallest tip can crack a case. You don’t think it can be somebody you love and somebody so close to you, but it can happen to anybody.”
Remembering a sports fan
Sharkey’s friends and family will remember him as opinionated and outspoken, but also as “funny and goofy,” Grigsby said.
“He was smart,” Grigsby said. “He supported me… he was just always there. That’s how he showed his love.
Sharkey was also a caretaker to his mother, who lost her spouse in the same week her son died, according to Samantha Sharkey. A fundraiser benefiting both Sharkey’s funeral expenses and Sharkey’s mother’s living expenses has raised about $10,700 as of Tuesday evening.
At Chiefs tailgates, Sharkey often brought smoked chicken wings for Gaw to grill, she said. He would dance around making up nonsense lyrics to popular songs, Brand said, and bravely taking shots of Jägermeister, which he hated.
A man of many hobbies, Sharkey had a sweet tooth and enjoyed sports betting on a small scale, known for stretching $5 in wagers across six months, Gaw said. As a child, he liked to accompany his father and uncles on family hunting trips, Sharkey’s uncle Jerry Sharkey said.
Sharkey’s death was the seventh homicide reported in Kansas City in 2025, according to data tracked by The Star. At the same time last year, two homicides had been reported in the city.
If someone is convicted of Sharkey’s murder, Jerry Sharkey said, Sharkey’s family will advocate for a long prison sentence in order to keep the alleged shooter out of the drivers’ seat.
Meanwhile, Sharkey’s tailgating family is preparing for a Saturday spent toasting to their friend in Lot C. Though they are struggling to imagine life and Kansas City sports without Sharkey, they hope the Chiefs will clinch a three-peat in the longtime fan’s honor.
“Saturdays, I’m going to march down that yellow brick road like he did,” Grigsby said, lifting her knees high. “And I’m gonna yell extra loud.”
Previous reporting by Kendrick Calfee contributed to this article.
This story was originally published January 14, 2025 at 8:17 PM.
