Ronald Gasser Convicted of Manslaughter in Fatal Shooting of Joe McKnight

Ronald Gasser was convicted of manslaughter Friday after he fatally shot former USC Trojans and New York Jets running back Joe McKnight in December 2016. 

According to WDSU's Scott Walker, Gasser faces up to 40 years in prison. 

Gasser, 56, was initially charged with second-degree murder. Had he been convicted of that charge, he would have faced a life sentence, according to the Advocate's Chad Calder and Ramon Antonio Vargas. 

The shooting occurred on Dec. 1, 2016, in Terrytown, Louisiana. When police arrived at the scene, Gasser admitted he had shot McKnight and claimed he did so out of self-defense. McKnight, police said, was not in possession of a gun. 

Investigators later said the shooting was the result of a five-mile "mutual road rage" incident, per the Times-Picayune's Littice Bacon-Blood. 

"It was like tit for tat, them fussing along the road," witness Lisa Carter testified, according to Bacon-Blood. 

McKnight eventually exited his car, at which point Gasser shot him through the passenger-side window. 

McKnight was 28 years old.