Interstate 29 in Kansas City reopened after police investigate fatal shooting Friday
Update: the Platte County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as 50-year-old Dennis Andrew Sharkey Jr., of Liberty, Missouri.
One man was killed in a shooting while he was driving near Northwest 72nd Street in Kansas City Friday night, police said.
Officers responded just after 7 p.m. to southbound Interstate 29 near NW 72nd Street for a vehicle that ran off the road. Capt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department, said in an email officers found the vehicle south of NW 72nd street.
The vehicle was down an embankment resting against a fence on the outer road, NW Prairie View Road.
Officers approached the vehicle and found a man who appeared to have been shot, unresponsive inside the vehicle, Becchina said. Officers rendered aid until paramedics arrived and transported the man to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Becchina said a preliminary investigation indicates the shooting likely occurred while the victim was traveling south on I-29 near NW 72nd street.
Police did not immediately explain what led investigators to believe the shooting happened while the car was driving.
Detectives closed the highway north of NW 72nd Street Friday evening to conduct their investigation and canvass for evidence. As of Saturday morning, KC Scout cameras in the area show the highway has reopened to traffic.
The killing is Kansas City’s 7th homicide of 2025, according to data maintained by The Star. At this time last year, the city had recorded 2 homicides.
As authorities continued to investigate Saturday, it was determined that the shooting happened outside the city limits of Kansas City. KCPD turned the investigation over to the Platte County Sheriff’s Office, according to a news release from the agency Saturday.
The Platte County Sheriff’s Office urges anyone who was in the area of I-29 between Barry Road and NW 72nd Street near the time of the shooting to contact the TIPS hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
This story was originally published January 11, 2025 at 9:26 AM.
