Accused McKnight shooter charged

The man accused of shooting to death former NFL and CFL player Joe McKnight now has been charged with manslaughter, according to records at the Jefferson Parish sheriff ’s office in Louisiana.

In a move that drew wide criticism last week, Ronald Gasser, 54, was released hours after the Thursday afternoon shooting, drawing attention to the state’s ‘stand your ground’ law.

Sheriff Newell Normand opened his news conference Monday with a defence of the time it took to charge Gasser, at one point reading off emails and messages in which authorities and elected officials were called profane and derogatory terms.

“Tough. I don’t care,” he said to critics of the delay in the arrest. “Justice is a marathon, not (a) sprint.”

The story of what unfolded came together, Normand said, after key witnesses were located. Finally, on Tuesday, Gasser was charged with manslaughter, Normand said, because “that most appropriately fit the evidence we have at this time.”

Normand described what happened Thursday afternoon: Gasser and McKnight had engaged in a lengthy back and forth for several blocks, one that may have begun when McKnight, driving his stepfather’s truck, cut off Gasser.

The two engaged in a ‘verbal altercation’ as they drove and eventually came to a red light. With Gasser’s car boxed in by traffic, McKnight exited the truck and approached Gasser’s vehicle. Normand indicated that McKnight leaned down to talk to Gasser “eye to eye.” At some point, Gasser pulled a gun from the console and shot McKnight three times. McKnight was unarmed, although there was a gun in the truck.

On Friday, the sheriff’s office released details of a 2006 road-rage incident involving Gasser. That incident began when a 51-year-old man saw someone later identified as Gasser driving “unsafely” and then called a number printed on the truck. Gasser answered the call, police said.

The two got into what police described as “a verbal altercation” on the phone before the caller pulled into a service station to refuel. Police said Gasser followed the man, where he “began to strike him with a closed fist several times.”

The “stand your ground” law says a person does not have a “duty to retreat” when life-threatening harm appears imminent. Legislators at a McKnight vigil later promised action.

“When we get back to the Legislature, we’ve got to find a way to look at these laws,” Rep. Rodney Lyons said.

Ronald Gasser