Former NFL running back Joe McKnight was shot and killed in an apparent road rage incident in Louisiana Thursday, and the man who pulled the trigger has been released from jail without charges.
Ronald Gasser, 54, was released from custody early Friday with investigators saying there is “no timeline” for their investigation. Col. John Fortunato of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office told the New York Daily News authorities plan to meet to determine “what, if any, charges will be brought against Mr. Gasser.”
“There’s no timeline for when this has to be done,” Fortunato said. “We want to get it right.”
Police have not released details of their investigation, but a witness claims to have seen Gasser yelling at McKnight, who was trying to apologize. Gasser allegedly shot McKnight in the middle of a busy intersection, stood over him and yelled, “I told you don’t you (expletive) with me,” and then shot him again. Gasser remained at the scene and turned his gun over to police.
Like many others, McKnight’s former New York Jets teammate Antonio Cromartie is outraged that Gasser was released from custody.
Gasser is likely claiming he shot McKnight in self-defense. Louisiana has a “stand your ground” law that makes homicide justifiable in cases where a person believes they are in “imminent danger of losing his life or receiving great bodily harm and that the killing is necessary to save himself from that danger.” That will almost certainly come into play in this case.
