Arkansas Democratic Party chairman dies after shooting
Bill Gwatney, a well-known former Arkansas legislator, is fatally wounded when a man begins shooting inside Democratic headquarters in Little Rock. A suspect who was later shot by police also has died.
A gunman shot and fatally wounded the chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party at its Little Rock headquarters today.
The suspected shooter, who was wounded during after being chased by police, also has died.
Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Bill Gwatney, a well-known former state legislator, was in his office shortly before noon when a man walked into the Capitol Avenue headquarters and demanded to see him.
When Gwatney's secretary refused to let him through, the man barged into Gwatney's office and shot the chairman several times in the upper body, according to Little Rock police.
Afterward, Gwatney's secretary rushed across the street to the Frances Flower Shop and asked someone to call 911, said store clerk Sara Lee.
"He kept asking to see the chairman, and she tried to stall him, but he went past her and she heard three gunshots," Lee said. "She was sitting here going over it in her mind -- he was a white man in a white shirt with khaki pants, middle-aged."
Lee said Gwatney was one of the flower shop's best customers, always ordering flowers when others died or fell ill.
"He's very nice, a very polished man," she said. "It's very sad to hear that something like this has happened to him."
Gwatney formerly represented the Jacksonville, Ark., region in the state Senate and owned a car dealership there.
Witnesses said a man matching the description also entered the Arkansas Baptist State Convention offices in downtown Little Rock, but did not fire any shots there, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
Witnesses told Arkansas television station KTHV that the man was wielding a handgun and said to people inside the Baptist Convention offices that he had recently lost his job. He pointed the weapon at a security guard but did not fire, the station reported.
Officers spotted the suspect driving a blue pickup, gave chase, shot him and took him into custody just south of Little Rock in nearby Grant County, police said. His name was not immediately released.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, a fellow Democrat who has known Gwatney for years, was in a plane flying to another region of Arkansas when he learned about the shooting. He immediately returned to the capital and was at the hospital with Gwatney's family, said the governor's spokesman, Matt DeCample.
"Bill is a dear, dear friend of the governor. They've known each other for years," DeCample said.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean commended officers for quickly tracking the suspect down.
"This senseless tragedy comes as a shock to all of us," Dean said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to chairman Gwatney and his family."
Former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton also released a statement following the shooting, but before news of Gwatney's death.
"We are stunned and shaken by today's shooting at the Arkansas Democratic Party where our good friend and fellow Democrat Bill Gwatney was critically wounded," the former Arkansas governor and first lady said. "Bill is not only a strong chairman of Arkansas' Democratic Party, but he is also a cherished friend and confidant."
miguel.bustillo@latimes.com
