Slain chairman's shooter had quit job at Target

Timothy Dale Johnson, who was shot and killed by authorities after he entered the Arkansas Democratic Party headquarters in Little Rock and fatally wounded chairman Bill Gwatney, had quit his job at a Conway, Ark., Target that morning, the retailer confirmed.

Workers at the store had discovered a string of profane messages on the wall that morning that angrily complained "This hall is too . . . arrow" according to the Conway Police Department, which was subsequently called to the scene.

Workers later found other graffiti signed and dated by Johnson, as well as graffiti stating that Target is run by "dumb jocks," according to Arkansas television station KTHV. Police said they could not confirm the exact messages Johnson had written because they had been quickly wiped away by Target management.

Store managers confronted the erratically behaving Johnson, and he stormed out of the store. Concerned that Johnson may return and harm them, management called police.

The officer who responded to the call wrote in a police report that "Johnson seemed to be extremely irate," according to a Target manager Bobby Thomas. Thomas told the officer that "Johnson was no longer employed at Target and was not allowed access to the property," the report stated.

"The initial call came out that Target management wanted to talk about a disgruntled employee . . . that wrote some graffiti on the walls," said Conway Police Department spokeswoman Sharen Carter. "Some of the things that were written were obscene. Management approached this employee, and he turned in his Target badge and left. He was not there by the time officers arrived."

Target said in a statement that Johnson, 50, did not have a history of problems at the store, where he had worked since November 2006.

"He voluntarily quit his job earlier this morning," the company said in a statement. "He had no history of behavioral or performance problems at Target. In the preceding days, he worked his regularly scheduled shifts without incident."

Hours later, shortly before noon, Johnson, a resident of Searcy, Ark., walked into the Arkansas Democratic Party's Little Rock headquarters and asked to speak to Gwatney, a well-known former state legislator. When he was denied passage, he pressed forward, shook hands with Gwatney, brandished a gun and shot him several times in the upper body, police said.

Gwatney, 48, died about four hours later as Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe, whom he had served as financial campaign chair in 2006, and other friends and family members huddled at the hospital.

After the shooting, Johnson walked into the Arkansas Baptist State Convention building a few blocks down and pointed a gun at workers there before leaving. Police gave chase after Johnson entered a blue Dodge pickup, and Johnson was shot by police about 30 minutes later in Grant County south of Little Rock, after he had shot at them first, authorities said. He later died.

Johnson's motive for shooting Gwatney remains unknown.

miguel.bustillo@latimes.com