Argument at Intersection Leaves Ex-NFL Player Dead

Road rage is being blamed for the shooting death of former NFL player Joe McKnight in New Orleans on Thursday. McKnight, 28, who spent three seasons with the Jets and Chiefs and played this year in the Canadian Football League, was shot to death at an intersection, reports the Times-Picayune. It's not clear what led to the shooting, but witnesses say McKnight and another man were arguing outside their vehicles about 2:45pm. One woman tells the newspaper that she heard McKnight trying to apologize for something before being shot. She says the second man then shot him again while he was on the ground. McKnight was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police have identified the shooter as 54-year-old Ronald Gasser, who is in custody but has not been charged. "The only thing we know right now, everything else is conjecture, is that Mr. Gasser did in fact shoot Mr. McKnight," says Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand. McKnight is the second former NFL player this year to die in an incident attributed to road rage in the New Orleans area, notes Tribune News. In April, former Saints player Will Smith was shot to death. McKnight, a running back, also led the league in kick returns in 2011 with a 31.6-yard average while with the Jets. That year, he ran back one 107 yards for a TD, a team record. (More road rage stories.)