National Football League

Suspect in shooting death of former RB Joe McKnight released without being charged

Published Dec. 9, 2016 12:55 p.m. ET

Andrew Lynch

UPDATE: Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand defended his handling of the Joe McKnight case, particularly the decision to release shooting suspect Ronald Gasser from police custody. Normand said Gasser is cooperating fully and a thorough investigation is being conducted.

Among the new details released: Gasser shot McKnight three times from inside his car, and McKnight's wounds were not consistent with being shot from above, contradicting a published account that Gasser shot McKnight once while standing over him.

Later Friday, Normand issued a press release stating that in February 2006, Gasser chased down and beat another driver in what appeared to be the same intersection where McKnight was shot and killed.

Meanwhile, McKnight's grandmother told the Associated Press the family is trying to get information on what happened. "He might be released now," Barbara Franklin said of Gasser, "but God is going to bring about justice in it."

On Thursday afternoon, Joe McKnight, a running back who starred at USC before playing four seasons in the NFL, was shot and killed in an alleged road rage attack in the Terrytown suburb of New Orleans, according to police. He was 28.

The shooter, identified as Roland Gasser, 54, remained at the scene and turned his gun over to the police before being taken into custody.

On Friday, Gasser was released from police custody with no charges filed, according to NOLA.com.

Ronald Gasser, the man authorities say shot and killed former NFL player Joe McKnight, was released from custody overnight without being charged, Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office authorities said Friday morning.

Gasser, 54, has not been formally charged, said JPSO spokesman Col. John Fortunato. As the investigation into McKnight's death continues, Fortunato asked anyone with information about the shooting to contact department homicide detectives at 504-364-5393.

McKnight, a native of River Ridge, La., is the second former NFL player this year killed in a possible road-rage incident in New Orleans. Former Saints star Will Smith was killed in April in the Lower Garden District.

Louisiana is one of 32 states that does not include a "duty to retreat" in its justifiable homicide laws, or what is colloquially referred to as a "stand your ground" approach to self-defense.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand told reporters that McKnight did not have a gun, and deputies did not find a gun outside of his vehicle.

McKnight was labeled as the next Reggie Bush in college, and though he flashed glimpses of that talent, including 206 all-purpose yards in the 2008 Rose Bowl, he never lived up to the hype, struggling with injuries, fumbles and investigations into potential NCAA rules violations.

A fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft, McKnight played three seasons with the Jets and two games with the Chiefs before suffering a torn Achilles' in 2014. His 31.6-yard average on kick returns in 2011 led the NFL, and his 107-yard return that year is the longest TD in Jets history. He was playing in the CFL this year.

McKnight's stepfather, Elmo Lee, told FOX 8 News that McKnight was trying to get back to the NFL.

“I just want people to know that this was not a troubled kid. The boy was just trying to make it back in the NFL, that's all he wanted to do,” Lee told FOX 8. “That was his whole dream since 6 years old. I've been knowing him from 6, and this is just senseless, and it has to stop. Somewhere it has to stop.”

Slain former NFL player Joe McKnight's loved ones talk about his death Thursday night in Terrytown. @NOLAnews pic.twitter.com/DuQuAGISMr
— Jonathan Bullington (@jrbullington) December 1, 2016