Did a gunman fire at MoDOT workers? KC police are investigating

Kansas City police are investigating after two roadside workers heard dozens of gunshots possibly directed at them Thursday afternoon.

The workers from the Missouri Department of Transportation were repairing a fence along Interstate 70 near Pittman Road about 1:15 p.m. when they heard popping noises. The noises paused and then resumed, police said. The workers then heard sounds as if bullets were hitting nearby trees and the metal fence.

“They came to the conclusion they were being shot at,” said Police Capt. Tye Grant.

The workers heard 30 to 40 shots, which they believed came from a .22-caliber gun, Grant said.

The workers jumped into their vehicles and quickly left the area, said Kerri Lewis, a MoDOT spokeswoman.

“The shots sounded somewhat close,” she said. “They weren’t sure, but they didn’t want to stick around to find out.”

Police checked an apartment complex just south of I-70 to see if someone there had been firing a gun. A manager told police she had been outside smoking a cigarette and didn’t hear any gunfire.

Officers did not find any shell casings in the area. Police said they have not been able to confirm whether the noises were gunshots and, if so, whether the bullets were directed at the workers.

In 2011, a stray bullet killed an 11-year-old girl celebrating the Fourth of July in her uncle’s backyard at 10415 E. 43rd St., which is two blocks south of where the workers had been repairing the fence. In that case, police determined a man and his friends standing on a dock at an apartment complex had fired bullets into the water for entertainment. A stray bullet went through a tree line and struck Blair Shanahan Lane in the neck.

This story was originally published February 28, 2014 at 1:39 PM with the headline "Did a gunman fire at MoDOT workers? KC police are investigating."