Suspect Arrested in Fatal Road Rage Shooting of Ex-NFL Player

Ronald Gasser, the man accused of shooting and killing former NFL player Joe McKnight in an apparent road rage incident in Louisiana, has been arrested and charged with manslaughter, according to Jefferson Parish records.

His arrest date is listed as Monday, according to the records.

Gasser had an initial court appearance this morning, and bond was listed at $500,000. He was assigned a public defender.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand was expected to hold a news conference this morning to discuss the investigation.

McKnight, 28, died last Thursday afternoon in Terrytown, Louisiana, located about 5 miles south of New Orleans across the Mississippi River. McKnight was not armed and there was no gun near his body, officials said.

Gasser, 54, stayed at the scene after the shooting, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said.

Gasser was inside his car when he fired three shots at McKnight; three casings were located in Gasser’s vehicle, Normand said.

Gasser allegedly admitted to fatally shooting McKnight and cooperated with the investigation, the sheriff’s office said.

Gasser, who relinquished his gun, was taken into custody and questioned by authorities Thursday before he was released later that night without charges, officials said.

McKnight, who went to high school in Louisiana, headed west for college in 2006 and became a football star at the University of Southern California.

After USC, McKnight played for the New York Jets and the Kansas City Chiefs.

He played in the Canadian Football League this season, according to The Associated Press.

A spokesman for the McKnight family said in a statement last week that “the family is distressed, distraught.”

“This tragedy is something that changes all of our lives so dramatically,” the statement said. “We are in the process of trying to deal with the grief and what we need to go through legally. We want to give Joe his just due.”

McKnight’s death marks the second time an NFL player was shot and killed in a motorist incident in the New Orleans area this year. In April, former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith was fatally shot while driving in New Orleans’s Lower Garden District. The trial for Smith’s accused killer begins today.

ABC News’ Carol McKinley contributed to this report.