The NFL world was stunned when former New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs running back Joe McKnight was murdered in New Orleans. However, the suspect of shooting McKnight was released despite not being charged.
In a report by New Orleans Times-Picayune, the suspect for shooting McKnight, Ronald Gasser, was released from custody overnight without being filed criminal charges.
Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office authorities have consulted the district attorney whether to file formal charges against Gasser.
A female witness, who did not want to be named, said that she saw a man yelling at McKnight at an intersection. The man shot McKnight plenty of times, according to the witness, and then stood over the former NFL player and said, "I told you don't you f--k with me," before firing another shot.
Gasser stayed in the scene and surrendered his gun to police officers, according to Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand.
However, a ballistic evidence and autopsy results suggest that Gasser did not fire on the 28-year-old while standing over him, according to a separate report in Times-Picayune. The autopsy opposes the witness accounts given at the crime scene last Thursday.
Normand said, in accordance with the ballistic evidence, that the 54-year-old white man was inside his vehicle when he fired three shots at McKnight. Jefferson Parish Coroner Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich added that the witness' statement of gunshots from above the ground was inconsistent with what they found in the results.
Cvitanovich said McKnight was hit in the chest before the bullet travelled through his liver and kidney. Another bullet punctured McKnight in his lungs. Normand said that the shooting rooted from a potential road rage incident.
Though the release of Gasser was met with criticism, Normand said that the suspect has been cooperative with their police department and added that "Mr. Gasser is not going anywhere."
McKnight was drafted 112th overall in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Jets and played in New York until August 2013. He signed with the Chiefs in January 2014 before suffering a torn Achilles tendon which ruled McKnight out for the rest of the 2014 season.