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WEBVTT REPORTER: -- >> WHAT HE DID TO ME, I WOULD THINK HE WAS THE AGGRESSOR. FROM 10 YEARS AGO FROM NOW, HE STRUCK ME WITH A FIST 10 YEARS AGO AND NOW HE GRADUATED TO A GUN. REPORTER: JOHN SHILLING IS SHAKEN UP AS HE RECOUNTS HIS ENCOUNTER WITH RONALD GASSER, WHO NOW FACES MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES FOR SHOOTING AND KILLING FOOTBALL STAR JOE MCKNIGHT. SHILLING SAYS BACK IN 2006 HE WAS TRAVELING DOWN BEHRMAN HIGHWAY WHEN HE SAW GASSER DRIVING ERRATICALLY. >> HE CUT IN FRONT OF ME, ALMOST RAN ON MY BUMPER. REPORTER: SHILLING DECIDED TO CALL THE BUSINESS NUMBER LISTED ON GASSER'S TRUCK. TURNS OUT GASSER ANSWERED THE PHONE. >> HE SAID I OUGHT TO MIND MY OWN LIMITED LANGUAGE BUSINESS AND WHEN HE SAW ME TALKING HIM THE PHONE, HE GAVE ME EXPLICIT FINGER GESTURES. REPORTER: SHILLING SAYS HE HUNG UP THE PHONE BUT SOON AFTER, GASSER FOLLOWED HIM INTO A GAS STATION. >> HE CAME IN BESIDE ME AND SPIT ON THE AND MIKE TROUT. -- MY TRUCK. HE HIT ME TWICE IN THE SHOULDER AT WHICH TIME HE DREW BACK TO HIS MORE. REPORTER: SHILLING SAYS THE MATTER ENDED WITH HIM FILING A POLICE REPORT WITH JPSO AND PURSUING CHARGES >> I WOULDN'T BE HERE TODAY, SO I GUESS, I AM LUCKY I KEPT MY COOL. REPORTER: INITIALLY JPSO DEPUTIES ISSUED GASSER A MISDEMEANOR SUMMONS FOR SIMPLE BATTERY, BUT THE CHARGE WAS LATER DISMISSED. SHILLING SAYS IF SOMETHING MORE HAD BEEN DONE A DECADE AGO, THINGS MAY HAVE TURNED OUT DIFFERENTLY FOR MCKNIGHT. >> THIS IS A REALLY BAD

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McKnight was shot and killed Dec. 1 after an incident described as road rage occurred between him and Ronald Gasser. Days later, Gasser was arrested and charged with manslaughter. Back in 2006, Gasser is accused of having a similar road confrontation just a few feet from where he admitted to shooting and killing McKnight. Speaking exclusively to WDSU, John Shilling identified himself as the man involved in that alleged 2006 incident and said he is lucky to be alive. “By what he did to me, I would think that Gasser was the aggressor,” Shilling said. “From 10 years ago to now, he struck me with a fist 10 years ago, and now he graduated to a gun.” Shilling was shaken as he recounted his encounter with Gasser. Shilling said that in 2006, he was traveling down Behrman Highway when he saw Gasser driving erratically. “He cut in front of me,” Shilling said. “He almost hit my bumper.” Shilling said he called the business number listed on Gasser’s truck, and that Gasser was the one who answered the call, too. “He said I ought to mind my own, (expletive) business,” Shilling recalled. “And when he looked over he saw me talking on the phone, he gave me finger gestures.” Shilling said he hung up the phone. However, Gasser began following him into a gas station. “(He) came beside me, spit twice through his passenger window into my truck – on me and in my truck,” he said. Shilling said he tried to block the punches that Gasser reportedly threw at him. “He did hit me in the head twice and in the shoulder, at which time he was drawing back to hit more and I said, ‘I'm calling the police on you!’” Shilling said it was walking distance from where McKnight was shot and killed. The matter ended with Shilling filing a police report with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and pursuing charges. “I wouldn't be here today. So I guess I'm very lucky that I kept my cool,” he said. Initially, Gasser was issued a misdemeanor summons for simple battery, but the charge was later dismissed. Shilling believes that if something more had been done in 2006, things may have turned out differently for McKnight. “This is a real bad situation,” Shilling said. WDSU contacted the Sheriff’s Office about why Gasser’s 2006 charge was dismissed. A representative said that the District Attorney’s Office dismissed the charges because they were unable to locate Shilling. However, Shilling said he told the District Attorney’s Office that he wanted to pursue charges, but never heard anything more.