AP

54-year-old Ronald Gasser initially wasn’t charged after killing former NFL running back Joe McKnight. That apparently has changed.

Via the New Orleans Advocate, Gasser has been jailed on one count of manslaughter.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand will hold a press conference at 11:00 a.m. ET regarding the situation. A Normand press conference from four days ago created a strong impression that Gasser may not be charged, given Louisiana laws that recognize justifiable homicide in certain specific situations.

Newell also disclosed a clear conflict of interest for his department: The man who raised McKnight previously worked as a deputy in Normand’s department. It’s unclear what, if anything, Newell or his department did to ensure that the potential bias has not been a factor, one way or the other, in decisions made about Gasser.

It’s also unclear whether prosecutors will choose to take the case to trial. In most situations, the decision hinges on whether prosecutors believe they will win. In this case, given strong criticism of “stand your ground” laws, maybe the prosecution will be required to roll the dice with a jury.

If nothing else, the message to anyone else who may be inclined to shoot first and ask questions later will be that avoiding criminal liability won’t be easy or automatic, and that a shooter will still have to spend thousands of dollars defending against the charges and weeks if not months of worrying about a possible conviction.