Former NFLer Joe McKnight killed in Louisiana road rage shooting

(Reuters) - Former National Football League player Joe McKnight was shot and killed on Thursday just outside New Orleans in his native Louisiana in what officials are investigating as a road rage incident. The shooting occurred around 3 p.m. local time at a traffic intersection in Terrytown, Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman Colonel John Fortunato said. The shooting suspect, 54-year-old Ronald Gasser, was taken into custody and was being questioned by investigators, Fortunato said. The 28-year-old McKnight played for the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs during his five-year career in the NFL. His last season in the league was in 2014, and he has since played as a running back for the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders. Tributes poured in on social media from former NFL colleagues of McKnight's in response to the deadly shooting. Reggie Bush, a running back for the Buffalo Bills who played for McKnight's alma mater of the University of Southern California while in college, tweeted, "RIP my brother Joe McKnight this one hurts bad." Former New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie also lamented the loss, saying in a tweet, "Just got a message saying my former teammate Joe McKnight was killed today. This hurt to the heart. I can't stop crying." (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)