Joe McKnight's shooter arrested, jailed on manslaughter charge

Ronald Gasser had previously been released from custody

Ronald Gasser, the man accused of shooting and killing former USC football player Joe McKnight, has been arrested and charged with manslaughter, per Jefferson Parish Correctional Center records.

McKnight was shot and killed on Dec. 1 in Terrytown in an apparent road rage incident. When police arrived, Gasser handed over his gun and admitted to killing McKnight, according to Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand. However, despite this, Gasser was released from custody as charges against him had not yet been filed.

Manslaughter charges can carry up to 40 years in prison. Normand previously said the state's "stand your ground" law may apply to this case.

Details of the shooting have been mixed. One unnamed source told the New Orleans Times-Picayune "she was leaving a store in the area when she saw a man at the intersection yelling at another man, who was trying to apologize. The man who was yelling shot the other man more than once, she said."

Another alleged witness told TMZ "she distinctly remembers seeing Gasser over McKnight's body ... and heard him yelling at the downed football star, "I told you I was going to f--- you up."

However, Normand disputes those details. Per the Baton Rouge Advocate, Normand said "no witness interviewed by the Sheriff's Office has reported that McKnight was apologizing when he was killed. He also denied accounts that have spread on the internet suggesting that Gasser fired while standing over McKnight."

Gasser was also the aggressor in a road rage incident 10 years ago, coincidentally at the same intersection where he shot McKnight.

McKnight, a top-ranked recruit in 2007, played three years at USC. He was taken in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the New York Jets, where he played for three years and served as the team's top kick returner in 2011 and 2012.