Ex-NFL player Joe McKnight fatally shot; suspect questioned

Published 10:07 am Friday, December 2, 2016

Authorities say the man who shot former NFL player Joe McKnight was released from custody overnight.

Col. John Fortunato is a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. He tells news media outlets Ronald Gasser hasn’t been charged yet and the shooting is still under investigation.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand on Thursday identified Gasser as the man who shot McKnight.

The shooting happened about 3 p.m. Thursday in Terrytown, a suburb of New Orleans just across the Mississippi River.

McKnight is the second former NFL player this year to die in the New Orleans area as a result of a possible road-rage incident. Former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith was killed in April in a shooting that was sparked by a traffic altercation.