Louisiana sheriff: Suspect was in his car when he shot ex-NFL player Joe McKnight
TERRYTOWN, La. -- The sheriff investigating the death of a former NFL player told reporters Friday that the man who shot Joe McKnight was in his vehicle when he fired the fatal shots.
“Mr. Gasser did not stand over Mr. McKnight and fire shots into him,” said Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand.
Normand said he was revealing these details to address reports that witnesses saw Gasser standing over McKnight with a gun as the 28-year-old tried to apologize.
The shooting happened about 3 p.m. Thursday in Terrytown, a suburb of New Orleans just across the Mississippi River.
Police say Ronald Gasser, 54, has admitted to shooting McKnight. Gasser was released from custody early Friday and has not been charged with any crime.
“Mr. Gasser isn’t going anywhere,” said Normand. “He has been completely cooperative.”
Sheriff Normand told reporters the investigation into the fatal shooting is ongoing: “We will leave no stone unturned.”
Jefferson Parish Coroner Gerald Cvitanovich said that McKnight sustained three gunshot wounds and Sheriff Normand said three bullet casings were found inside Gasser’s vehicle.
Normand said they know of no video of the incident.
McKnight’s grandmother said family members are still seeking information on his death and why Gasser was released. Barbara Franklin told The Associated Press by phone Friday that relatives are “trying to find out our own selves” more about what happened.
She said family members haven’t had any communication with the sheriff’s office about Gasser’s release, saying she learned of it through a radio broadcast Friday.
“He might be released now, but God is going to bring about justice in it,” Franklin said of the release.
At the Friday news conference, Coroner Cvitanovich said that McKnight sustained three gunshot wounds: one in his hand; one which entered through his shoulder and punctured his lung; and one which entered his chest and went through his liver and kidney.
“The wounds are not consistent with being shot from above,” said Cvitanovich.
CBS affiliate WWLTV reports that a news release from the sheriff’s office stated that prior to the shooting, both vehicles were on Behrman Highway, parallel to one another. Preliminary accounts from witnesses and the shooter suggested that the events were the culmination of a road rage incident.
The witnesses told the sheriff’s office that the two men were in a heated verbal exchange followed by the sounds of gunfire. After the shooting, witnesses told investigators that Gasser was at the rear of the vehicles with a gun in his hand. McKnight was on the pavement between both vehicles. Eventually he was moved to the back of the vehicles where a civilian performed CPR. Gasser stayed on the scene and waited for responding deputies.
Normand said he wouldn’t be influenced by “outside forces” and noted the racial angle to the incident. McKnight is black and Gasser is white.
“This isn’t about race,” Normand emphasized. “In fact, the man who raised Joe McKnight Jr. used to work for this office.”
Normand said that out of an “abundance of caution” he would not share more details of the case, nor what Gasser told investigators, so as not to taint other potential witnesses.
“A rush to judgment does not equal anything,” Normand said. “In fact, in the criminal justice process, if you don’t dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’ and there are deficiencies, it has dire consequences. Out of respect to the decedent and the individual who shot and killed Mr. McKnight, that’s the way it has to be.”
