The Associated Press is reporting that “A gunman entered Arkansas Democratic Party headquarters and shot the party chairman, who is hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.
The gunman asked to speak to the party chairman, Bill Gwatney, and fired three shots.”
Gwatney’s secretary refused entry but the man just went in to his office according to Gwatney’s secretary. The gunman was described as a white man in his 40s driving a blue pick up truck. Police chased the assailant for twenty miles before engaging in a shoot out and killing the alleged shooter outside of Little Rock.
No reason is given for Gwatney’s attempted murder in the article. It was briefly on the front page of the NY Times but has been dumped off to the inside pages of the paper’s internet edition. CNN reports no reason but says that the man went to a neighboring building and was muttering about losing his job. Gwatney is a new car dealer besides holding his party position.
It is worth noting that none of the state’s four House seats nor a US Senate seat up for election this cycle are being contested (leaving four Dems and Rep unopposed).