By Jacob Quinn Sanders

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A man armed with a revolver shot and killed Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Bill Gwatney at party headquarters in Little Rock late Wednesday morning, then led police on a 34-mile chase before confronting officers, who shot and killed him less than an hour later.

A member of the state Senate for a decade and the owner of three auto dealerships, Gwatney, 48, died at 3:59 p.m. at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center.

“We do not have any indication that the gunman knew Chairman Gwatney,” Little Rock police Lt. Terry Hastings said during a press briefing Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities identified the gunman as Timothy Dale Johnson, 50, of Searcy. Johnson was flown from where police shot him in the Grant County city of Sheridan to Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, where he was pronounced dead. 

While no motive was immediately known, Conway police late Wednesday released a report stating that earlier in the day a man identified as Johnson had written graffiti on the wall of a Target department store and was “extremely irate.”

A store manager told police that Johnson “was no longer employed there” and “was not allowed access to the property.” Officer Sharen Carter, a Conway police spokesman, said it was her understanding that Johnson was fired Wednesday morning.

Reaction to Gwatney’s death came swiftly.

Former President Clinton and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton issued a joint statement about the chairman’s death.

“We are deeply saddened by the news that Bill Gwatney has passed away,” Arkansas’ former first couple said. “His leadership and commitment to Arkansas and this country have always inspired us and those who had the opportunity to know him.”

A violent act

Little Rock police said nine or 10 people were inside Democratic Party headquarters at 1300 W. Capitol Ave. and about a dozen were outside the headquarters when Johnson, wearing a white T-shirt and khaki pants, walked inside just after 11:45 a.m.

He asked to see the chairman at the front counter, police and witnesses said, but Gwatney’s secretary told him Gwatney was busy. Johnson insisted, and Gwatney emerged from his office, police said. Gwatney’s secretary introduced them, and then Johnson pulled his gun.

While several witnesses said they heard three shots, authorities said they were still investigating and could not confirm that number.

Hastings said at least one shot hit Gwatney, and several witnesses said a shot hit Gwatney in the head.

He added there had been no argument, no raised voices. The first 911 call was at 11:49 a.m.

Sarah Lee, a clerk at Frances Flower Shop, directly across South Pulaski Street from the Democratic Party offices, said Gwatney’s secretary ran into the flower shop in a panic.

“She ran in and said ‘Please, please, someone please call 911.’ I thought maybe somebody had got hit by a car,” Lee said.

Annette Bradford arrived at the Democratic Party offices shortly after hearing of the shooting. Her daughter Angela Bradford works in the office, she said. Angela Bradford is listed as compliance coordinator on the party’s Web site.

“She was coming from the Capitol, and before she got into the office, (party field representative) Donell Meadows was running out and told her to run,” Annette Bradford said. “They ran back toward the Capitol.”

A few minutes later, Johnson walked into the offices of the Arkansas State Baptist Convention, seven blocks east of the Democratic Party headquarters, with a gun in his left hand, said Dan Jordan, the Baptist Convention’s business manager.

“He went upstairs on our second floor, and when the building manager confronted him, he said something about losing his job, cocked the gun and pointed it at him, then ran out the front door,” Jordan said.

Jordan said he saw Johnson get into a blue pickup, which turned out to be a 2000 Dodge Dakota, and drive off. Jordan pointed out the truck to officers responding to Gwatney’s shooting.

“I was wondering how the police got there so quickly,” Jordan said. “Now I know this had already been called in.”

The chase

Little Rock police followed the Dakota from East Seventh and Arch streets at 30-35 mph, police said, and almost forced it to a stop several times. One officer got close enough to point a shotgun at the truck but did not fire, police said.

The pickup headed west on East Seventh to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, where it got onto Interstate 630 heading east. Officers followed the truck from I-630 to Interstate 30, then chased it south on Interstate 530 to Exit 10, where it turned south on U.S. 167 toward Sheridan. 

Arkansas State Police troopers took the lead in the pursuit, joined by at least one Little Rock police officer and Grant County sheriff’s deputies once Johnson crossed the Pulaski County line.

Sheridan police officers set up a roadblock inside the city limits, just north of Little Creek Cut-Off. To avoid the roadblock, Johnson drove off the highway, through a ditch and toward the Winston Clinic, at Little Creek Cut-Off and U.S. 167.

Finally, at Little Creek Cut-Off and U.S. 167, police stopped the pickup, and a sheriff’s office car pulled up tight against the driver’s-side door. 

Sadler said a trooper pulled up tight to the passenger side to keep Johnson in the vehicle, but he got out anyway.

He fired two rounds at the deputy’s vehicle, Grant County Sheriff Lance Huey said. Three troopers and a Little Rock officer returned fire at 12:29 p.m., authorities said. The brief exchange attracted dozens of residents from nearby homes.

The three troopers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave with pay, pending the outcome of an investigation.