HARVEY, La. — The shooting death of an ex-NFL player in a New Orleans suburb was a “road rage” incident that started 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 and killed Thursday afternoon in the community of Terrytown, just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Authorities have identified 54-year-old Ronald Gasser, who stayed at the scene, as the shooter and he was released overnight, sparking criticism.
During 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 nearby streets in the New Orleans suburb.