On October 7, 2017, 43-year-old Shawn A. Kottmann was found with gunshot wounds on the 5900 block of Sherry Avenue in the Walnut Park West neighborhood of St. Louis and pronounced dead at the scene. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department treated the event as a homicide and circulated surveillance footage showing a person and a vehicle near the scene, asking the public for help identifying them.

Kottmann lived in O'Fallon, Missouri, and was a father to two sons, Shawn and Carter. Born in April 1974 to Lynda Nimtz and the late Gary Kottmann, he was remembered by family as a devoted father and the love of his life, Jenny Pettig, survived him along with a large extended family.

Homicide investigators continued to seek tips through CrimeStoppers, offering anonymity and a potential reward for information about the suspect or the vehicle. Does anyone have information about that day, the person seen on the footage, or the vehicle near Sherry Avenue?