Posted on 08/13/2008 10:15:43 AM PDT by HAL9000
Shortly before noon Wednesday, a possible shooting was reported at the State Democratic Party Headquarters in Little Rock.Dozens of police cars are on the scene at 1300 West Capitol, and at least one ambulance was seen leaving as KARK 4 crews arrived. MEMS ambulance officials confirm one person was transported to the hospital from the scene.
Shortly after noon, police were reported to be in pursuit of a suspect in the incident on a Little Rock interstate.
~ snip ~
(Excerpt) Read more at arkansasmatters.com ...
Terrible news, totally uncalled for. Prayers for Gwatney family.
Flowers are appropriate. Thank you very much.
Prayers.
Damn.
I hate to see this sort of thing..no matter the party. I tell you..Politics this year has a bit of nastiness I have never seen. God I hope this year isn’t a replay of 1968.
The Little Rock police said about 2:30 p.m. that the suspect, identified later as Timothy Dale Johnson of Seracy, was dead after being shot by authorities near Sheridan, around 40 miles south of the capital city.
Gwatney is survived by his wife Rebecca; two daughters from a prior marriage, Christian and Chase; and two stepchildren, Zachary and Emily.
Immediately after the shooting, police sources said they were working to confirm tentative information that the suspect was a former employee of a Gwatney car dealership. The Little Rock police said, however, at an afternoon news conference that the shooter, whom they did not identify, was NOT a Gwatney employee and, so far as they knew, never had been, contrary to some reports mentioned here earlier in the day. Hastings said they hoped to learn from family more about Johnson’s background.
According to one source, information gathered about Johnso indicated he’d exhibited erratic behavior at least once in the past. He reportedly made an irate visit to a dentist a year or so ago, but later returned to apologize.
Gwatney, 48, was taken from the scene in an ambulance and it was believed from the first that his condition was dire. Police spokesman Terry Hastings (shown at crime scene briefing shortly after the shooting) said that he’d been shot three times in the upper body. At 2 p.m., friends with the Gwatney family at the hospital told friends he was still in surgery. Friends say doctors were struggling to keep him stable because of the severity of the wounds.
His death was officially announced at a police news conference originally scheduled for 4 p.m. After delaying the news conference for about a half hour, police announced that Gwatney was pronounced dead at 3:59.
After the car ran into a field near the Winston Clinic, on the northern edge of Sheridan, there was an exchange of gunfire between police and the suspect. The man was alive when he was airlifted from the scene, but Lt. Terry Hastings of the LRPD said he died later at a hospital.
Multiple weapons were seized, including a revolver, rifle and semi-automatic weapon.
Though the suspect, Johnson, had a sister in Sheridan, police said they had no idea if his drive in that direction was related or only coincidental.
The Pulaski County Democratic Women will hold a prayer vigil for Gwatney at 6 p.m. Thursday on the Capitol steps. The public is welcome.
That’s too bad. I used to work with Gwatney’s dad and brother, Russell, at their Chevy dealership in Memphis. Hard-nosed businessmen, and totally decent people as far as I could tell.
Great tagline!
I've been saying for months at least, since last year I think, that this is shaping up to be the ugliest election I've seen at least since my active involvement began in '88 and possible before.
But killings like this I hate to see too.
I have personal experience of hearing of the death of a loved one on the radio.
My grandfather was the chief of homicide detectives for the county I live in now. He had a heart attack in 1965 and I was 14 at the time. My mother was his daughter and we heard about it on KDKA while traveling home from Nags Head, NC. We were on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Somerset.
She silently cried the rest of the way home and we had about an hour or so of traveling time to go.
Dad almost wrecked the car when it came on the news.
More details emerging -
Timothy Dale Johnson lived in Searcy, and was employeed at the Target store in Conway - until he voluntarily quit this morning.
Johnson had been caught writing graffitti on the store walls, with misogynistic messages about sororities, and complaints about the width of the hallways. However, a Target spokesman said there was no trouble during his employment with the firm.
You are welcome, glad I got something right today.
Prayers for the man and his family.
It would appear from local news last night that Tim Johnson did not work for Gwatney, but instead had just yesterday been fired or quit his job with Target. I’m sure more information will be coming out in the next few days, but it appears that the two men maybe did not know each other at all.
According to KTHV Channel 11 in Little Rock last night, after shooting Gwatney, Johnson then went down the street and threatened employees at the Arkansas Baptist State Headquaters.
prayers for his family
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.