January trial scheduled in shooting death of ex-NFL player

Oct 20, 2017 | 1:30 PM

GRETNA, La. — Trial for the suspect in last year’s shooting death of former NFL player Joe McKnight has been scheduled for Jan. 16.

Fifty-five-year-old Ronald Gasser faces a second-degree murder charge in McKnight’s death on Dec. 1, 2016.

Authorities have said McKnight and Gasser drove erratically and yelled at each other in a traffic confrontation before the shooting. They say the confrontation took place as they travelled over a Mississippi River bridge in New Orleans and onto roads in a neighbouring district.

Prosecutors have cast Gasser as the aggressor. Gasser’s attorneys say he shot in self-defence.