Ronald Gasser
Ronald Gasser
Ronald Gasser is owner of Lan-Tel New Orleans and a telecom consultant. He lives in New Orleans.
In December 2016, Gasser allegedly murdered former New York Jets player Joe McKnight. He was released from custody without being charged because police said he offered an explanation.
Personal Life
Roanld Gasser moved into his father’s single-story brick house in Gretna, Louisiana a city located just east of New Orleans about 15 years ago. Gasser has lived there alone since his dad’s death last year, neighbors said. [1]
Shooting of Joe McKnight
On December 1, 2016 Ronald Gasser allegedly fatally shot Joe McKnight during a Road Rage incident in Terrytown, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans.
After admitting to police that he committed the shooting Ronald Gasser has not been charged with any crime and is currently walking free after being detained briefly.
Sheriff Newell Normand identified the suspected shooter as Ronald Gasser, 54. Normand said he does not believe McKnight was carrying a gun.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said it happened just after 3 p.m. at the corner of Behrmann highway and Holmes Boulevard. Two lanes of the roadway were shut down for several hours following the shooting.
Multiple witnesses said man in an Infiniti sedan pulled the victim from his Audi and shot him multiple times after a verbal altercation. Prior to the shooting witnesses said that Joe Mcknight appeared to be apologizing while Ronald was yelling at him. Witnesses said the shooter then waited for police to show up. After shooting McKnight, Gasser stood over him and said "I told you not to fuck with me" before firing a final shot, killing him. [1]
Reaction to the Shooting
There has been backlash from civil rights activista as well as friend and family of Joe Mcknight after Ronald Gasser was rekeased from custody without charges.
“We think a black man was lynched yesterday,” said Morris Reed, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s New Orleans chapter. “We’re demanding answers.” [1]
Antonio Cromartie, McKnight's former teammate with the Jets, was dismayed to learn that Gasser was released without being charged.
“I don't get it,” Cromartie tweeted.
“How in hell do you release someone who killed my brother, my friend a father a son a brother without charging him.
Bull Crap.”
“You tell (me) how can a man murder someone go get to sleep in his bed at night,” Cromartie added.
‘But my brother can’t.
What the hell am I to tell my nephew.”
A relative of McKnight also expressed disbelief over Gasser’s release.
“It's got me sick to my stomach,” Shantell Dobard, 41, told The Times-Picayune.
“I’m just disappointed how they just let him go free after he shot to death an unarmed man.
The system is so screwed up.”