Gwatney

California (Los Angeles Times):

A gunman shot and fatally wounded the chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party at its Little Rock headquarters yesteday.

The suspected shooter, who was wounded after being chased by police, also has died.

State legislator

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'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, Arkansas region in the state Senate and owned a car dealership there.