Former Southern California standout and ex-NFL running back Joe McKnight was killed in a shooting in Terrytown, Louisiana, a New Orleans suburb, on Thursday. McKnight was 28 years old.
The shooting was reported at 3 p.m. local time after a dispute at an intersection in Terrytown led to the unnamed suspect shooting and killing McKnight, according to the police report obtained by NOLA.com. McKnight's family confirmed his death.
A witness, who declined to give her name, said 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. She said the shooter shot the man, stood over him and said "I told you don't you f--- with me." Then he fired again, she said.
McKnight was the nation's top-ranked recruit in 2007 coming out of John Curtis High School in New Orleans and committed to USC, where he played for three years and rushed for 2,214 yards and 13 touchdowns before declaring for the NFL Draft after his junior year.
The talented back 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. McKnight was out of the NFL for a year before joining the Kansas City Chiefs in 2014; however, an Achilles injury forced him away from the field.
In his four years in the NFL, McKnight had 113 carries for 505 yards, 23 receptions for 241 yards and two touchdowns along with 2,270 kickoff return yards and two touchdowns.
McKnight returned to football in the Canadian Football League with the Edmonton Eskimos in 2015 and played the 2016 season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
