Victim identified: Platte County officials take over investigation of fatal shooting along I-29

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Platte County Sheriff’s Office has taken over the investigation of a deadly shooting that shut down I-29 for several hours Friday night.

Around 7 p.m. on Jan. 10, the Kansas City Police Department was notified of a shooting in the southbound lanes of I-29 at NW 72nd Street.

KD said a caller reported that a vehicle had gone off southbound I-29, hit an embankment and continued towards the ramp before coming to a stop.

When first responders arrived, they found one man inside the vehicle with apparent gunshot wounds. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. On Saturday, he was identified as 50-year-old Dennis. A. Sharkey of Liberty, Missouri.

Detectives spoke with several witnesses and processed evidence at the scene. On Saturday, they announced their preliminary investigation revealed that the shooting happened outside the city limits of Kansas City, Missouri, and had taken place in Platte County, Missouri.

As a result, the case was handed over the the Platte County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the KD Metro Squad.

A motive for the shooting is still unclear, but law enforcement is seeking information from anyone who was in the area at the time of the incident, including if they saw suspicious activity involving a white sedan.

Anyone with information is asked to the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).

I-29 was shut down for several hours after the incident, with drivers being sent to alternative routes. Law enforcement said the delay was caused by the shooting’s unusual location.

“Because it’s on a highway, it’s a little bit of a unique situation,” said a KD spokesperson. “It’s not really like a stable scene - with a lot of cars going by, that can have detrimental effects on evidence, and so that’s the necessity for closing down the highway. Any little piece of evidence in this type of situation can lead police to a suspect or suspects, and so it’s really important because we only get one shot at this. Obviously, when the highway reopens and traffic is flowing again, then that evidence could be destroyed if we don’t get it captured.”

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