iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Former USC and New York Jets running back Joe McKnight was fatally shot in a road rage incident near New Orleans on Thursday, according to ESPN.
“At approximately 2:43 p.m. today we received a call of a shooting that occurred here at Holmes [Boulevard] and Behrman Highway (in Terrytown),” Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said. “Our officers arrived on the scene and immediately began giving CPR to an individual who was shot and lying on the ground.”
The suspect was identified as Ronald Gasser, who stayed at the scene after the shooting, according to police.
“Mr. Gasser did, in fact, shoot Mr. McKnight. We will be releasing additional details as we get through these interviews with these witnesses,” Normand told reporters. “Mr. McKnight did not have a gun in his possession.”
McKnight played 3 seasons at USC and was a fourth round pick for the Jets in the 2010 draft, according to ESPN. He spent 3 seasons with the Jets and was released by the team in 2013 after a turbulent return to training camp.
“Joe McKnight was a loving father and a genuine, kind-hearted person,” the Jets said in a statement. “It is sad when life is taken in what appears to be such a senseless act of violence. Joe, you will be missed.”
McKnight was 28.
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