Platte County Sheriff’s Office seek witnesses of I-29 shooting
Anyone with information can their office or the TIPS Hotline
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Law enforcement is looking for answers after a man was found shot to death inside his car on Friday.
According to police, 50-year-old Dennis Andrew Sharkey Jr. was found dead on Friday and the whereabouts of the shooter responsible for his death are unknown.
The call to the Kansas City Police Department happened around 7 p.m. on Friday in the southbound lanes of I-29 near NW 72nd Street. Sharkey’s vehicle was found at the barrier fence just north of NW 70th Street and NW Prairie View Road, but the suspect’s vehicle was nowhere to be found.
Platte County Sheriff’s Officer Captain Jeffrey Shanks said on Saturday that both vehicles stopped on the interstate for an incident of some kind. The suspect then got out of their vehicle and fired a single shot into Sharkey’s vehicle as he tried to get away.
t. Shanks said they do not have any suspect or the suspect vehicle information at this time and asked for the public’s assistance to track them down.
“The best information we can get is from anyone who is in the area. Even if it just gets us started on a description of a possible suspect vehicle.”
Sharkey was a reporter for The Platte County Citizen, a local newspaper. The staff offered their condolences to his family and shared a link to a GoFundMe.
“The Platte County Citizen staff are saddened by the loss of Dennis Sharkey, the Citizen’s sports reporter, who died by homicide Friday night,” the post stated.
The investigation
A nearby business provided authorities with camera footage that showed two vehicles and three individuals stopping to help Sharkey in some capacity. He mentioned the winter weather conditions could have played a part in more people not stopping to assist.
Shanks said they are trying to get what they can from cameras but for now, are relying on people’s point of view on Friday night.
“Any information that we can get, even if they want to leave it anonymously, we would appreciate it,” he said.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Victim identified: Platte County officials take over investigation of fatal shooting along I-29
Sean Collings was returning home from dinner when he saw the highway closed with several police vehicles blocking off areas and crime tape.
“I’d say probably like 8-10 cars just cars going back and forth not sure what was really going on at the moment,” he said.
He hopes the person who shot Sharkey is caught but is aware of the several outlets to other highways and backroads since he’s lived there for almost four years.
“Hopefully we get to find out who did it, who is the culprit,” he said. “My condolences to them and their family.”
The Kansas City Police Department initially responded to the call but the Platte County Sheriff’s Office had taken over the investigation on Friday night.
I-29 was shut down for several hours after the incident, with drivers being sent to alternative routes. One person living in the nearby apartment complex said they saw police vehicles still out on the highway on Saturday morning.
Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.
