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HARVEY, La. (AP) The shooting death of an ex-NFL player in a New Orleans suburb was a ''road rage'' incident that began on a nearby bridge, a sheriff said Friday, as he urged against a rush to judgment and defended his handling of the case.
Joe McKnight was shot Thursday afternoon in Terrytown, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Authorities identified 54-year-old Ronald Gasser, who stayed at the scene, as the shooter and released him overnight, sparking criticism.
At a news conference Friday, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said the altercation that ended with McKnight's death started on a nearby bridge - possibly when one of the two men cut the other off - and then proceeded into streets of the New Orleans suburb. He didn't say which driver cut off the other.
Authorities said Gasser shot McKnight three times from inside his car with a semi-automatic handgun while McKnight was standing outside. Witnesses reported the two had been in a heated argument, the sheriff said.
Normand defended his handling of the case, saying the investigation was ongoing. No charges have been filed. Some protesters upset at Gasser's release gathered outside the sheriff's office earlier Friday.
Speaking of Gasser's release, the sheriff said the state has certain ''statutes'' that provide a defense to certain crimes but did not go into further detail.
''The easiest thing for me would have been `Book him Danno.' Right?'' Normand said, referring to the police saying made popular on Hawaii Five-0. But Normand urged caution.
''Mr. Gasser is not going anywhere. He has been completely cooperative with us in every request we have made,'' he said. ''We will do a very through and deliberate investigation.''
Normand didn't go into details from the investigation, saying he didn't want to taint any prospective witnesses that might still come forward.
But he did reject a number of accounts in local media speculating about the shooting. In particular, Normand said there was no video of the incident and that Gasser did not stand over McKnight and fire shots into him.
Coroner Gerry Cvitanovich backed that up, saying Knight's three wounds were not consistent with being shot from above.
McKnight's grandmother said family members are still seeking information about the player's death and why Gasser was released.
Barbara Franklin told The Associated Press relatives are ''trying to find out our own selves'' just what happened. Of Glasser, she said by phone, ''He might be released now, but God is going to bring about justice in it.''
McKnight is the second former NFL player this year to die in the New Orleans area in an apparent road rage incident. Former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith was killed in a shooting last April sparked by a traffic altercation.
Normand said no gun was found outside either vehicle. A sheriff's office spokesman, Col. John Fortunato, said authorities are searching both vehicles. Fortunato said McKnight didn't have a weapon on his person or near his body when found.
Gasser couldn't immediately be reached by The Associated Press.
His release raised questions about what exactly led to the shooting. Arthur A. Lemmann, a New Orleans-based attorney not connected to the case, cautioned that it was too early to tell but it could indicate Gasser says he acted in self-defense.
''It's not the end of the matter. They can continue to investigate. They can always bring charges but what it indicates to me is that there was some basis to believe that the homicide was justified. And the most typical justification of a homicide is self-defense,'' Lemmann said.
McKnight played three seasons for the New York Jets and one with the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent this season in the Canadian Football League, playing in games for the Edmonton Eskimos and the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
McKnight was considered the nation's No. 1 running back recruit when he came out of Louisiana in 2006 and signed with the University of Southern California. After a sometimes-spectacular college career, he was drafted by the Jets in the fourth round in 2010.
His NFL career got off to a shaky start but he started the regular-season finale, rushing for 158 yards on 32 carries. McKnight assumed the role as the Jets' primary kick returner in 2011, and led the NFL with a 31.6 yard kickoff return average that season. That included a franchise-record 107-yarder in 2011 against Baltimore that also stands as the team's longest play.
He was released by the Jets in their final cuts after training camp in 2013 and spent that season out of football. McKnight signed with Kansas City in January 2014 but later tore his Achilles tendon and missed the rest of the year.
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Associated Press reporter Jeff Amy in Jackson, Miss. contributed to this report.
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Follow Rebecca Santana on Twitter (at)ruskygal.
