Road rage led to shooting
Former NFL, CFL player Joe McKnight remembered for his ‘great heart’
A road rage incident, possibly sparked by a driver cutting off another on a nearby bridge, spiralled into a shooting that left a CFL player dead, authorities said amid criticism the shooter was allowed to go free.
Saskatchewan Roughriders running back Joe McKnight, 28, was shot Thursday afternoon in Terrytown, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Authorities identified Ronald Gasser, 54, as the shooter and released him.
At a news conference Friday, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said the altercation started on a nearby bridge and proceeded into the New Orleans suburb.
Witnesses reported hearing rapid gunfire after the two men were in a heated argument.
Normand said Gasser shot McKnight three times from inside his car while McKnight stood outside, then gave his handgun to deputies when they arrived at the scene soon afterward. No weapon was found on or near McKnight’s body, authorities said.
No charges have been filed, and some have criticized the sheriff for releasing Gasser.
McKnight is the second CFL player to be shot to death this year. Stampeders defensive back Mylan Hicks was killed outside a Calgary nightclub in September.
McKnight was signed to Saskatchewan’s practice roster Sept. 26, and ran for 150 yards in his first CFL start Oct. 15 as the Roughriders beat Toronto 29-11. He finished the 2016 season with 228 rushing yards and 80 receiving yards over five games with Edmonton and Saskatchewan.
McKnight played three seasons for the New York Jets and one with the Kansas City Chiefs before moving to the CFL.
Former teammates in New York remembered McKnight fondly.
“I enjoyed the time when he was here and getting to know him as a person,” Muhammad Wilkerson said. “I think it’s going to hurt his son the most and that’s what is really bothering me — knowing that a kid will have to grow up without his dad.”
The Jets plan a moment of silence before their game Monday against the Indianapolis Colts to honour McKnight.
Seattle Seahawks’ Pete Carroll coached McKnight at USC and said he had talked with McKnight just three weeks ago in California.
“He had a great heart, he was a great kid, he was fun to be around, fun loving, but you just knew he had a lot of stuff to overcome and he was making it,” Carroll said. “We’re going to miss him greatly.” Morris Reed Sr., president of the New Orleans branch of the NAACP, was part of a small group of protesters outside the sheriff ’s office Friday. He said they would ask the Department of Justice to open an independent investigation into the shooting.
“Until someone is charged with a crime, justice is not served,” he said on local media.
Dozens of people gathered at the scene Friday night and again Saturday, holding hands in prayer and lighting candles. One woman held a sign saying, “This is murder.”
Normand defended his handling of the case, saying they would investigate thoroughly. Speaking on Gasser’s release, the sheriff said the state has certain “statutes” that provide a defence to certain crimes, but did not go into detail.
Normand said there’s no video of the incident and Gasser did not stand over McKnight while firing. Coroner Gerry Cvitanovich said McKnight’s three wounds were not consistent with being shot from above.
When asked whether the state’s “stand your ground” law will play a role, Normand said: “It is one of the issues that looms on the horizon,” before adding he didn’t want to give an opinion.
“Stand your ground” laws give people wide latitude to use deadly force when they believe they are in danger. Dane Ciolino, a Loyola University law professor in New Orleans, says under such laws people “engaged in lawful activity in a place where they have a lawful right to be, don’t have to retreat.”
He said it “… boils down to whether the killing is necessary for this man to save his life.”
But news Gasser has been involved in a similar altercation — at the same intersection — with a driver a decade ago will likely raise further questions about who was the aggressor.
Normand said in a news release late Friday in February 2006, a man saw a truck driving erratically and called a number on the truck, speaking to a man later identified as Gasser.
Gasser and the man got into a fight on the phone, then Gasser followed the man to a service station, confronted him and hit him several times. Gasser drove away and the victim called 911.
Investigators found Gasser and issued a misdemeanour summons for simple battery, which was later dismissed. Authorities said they are trying to determine why it was dismissed.