Bill Gwatney, the chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party, was fatally shot in his office in Little Rock on Wednesday morning, police officials said.
The officials said a gunman fired several shots at Mr. Gwatney, a former state legislator, in the party’s headquarters near the Capitol. After a long car chase, the suspect was fatally wounded in a shootout with the police, the authorities said.
Bill Sadler, a spokesman for the Arkansas State Police, identified the suspect as Timothy D. Johnson, 50, of Searcy, Ark. Mr. Gwatney, 48, was rushed to the medical center of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, but a family friend who asked not to be identified said doctors determined that he was too unstable to undergo surgery. He died several hours later, police officials confirmed.
“We have no indications of motive at this time,” Lt. Terry Hastings of the Little Rock police said at an afternoon news conference.
Shortly before noon, the suspect entered the headquarters and asked to see Mr. Gwatney, Lieutenant Hastings said.
“He walked around an employee, walked in and did meet Mr. Gwatney,” the lieutenant said. “They introduced themselves. At that time, he pulled out a handgun and shot Chairman Gwatney several times. He then turned and left the business.”
At about that time, Mr. Gwatney’s assistant burst into a florist shop across the street from the headquarters, said Sarah Lee, a sales clerk at the shop. “She was saying that somebody was in her office shooting a gun, and she didn’t know if he had been hit,” Ms. Lee said. “She was just screaming, so we got her behind the counter and locked the door because we didn’t know if someone was following her.”
The assistant, Amy Bell, said that she had tried to put the man off by offering him bumper stickers, but that he had walked past her into Mr. Gwatney’s office. Ms. Lee said Ms. Bell recited a description of the man: khaki pants, white shirt, silver-gray hair. “She said: ‘He didn’t scare me. He was puzzling to me for some reason, and I was trying to get rid of him,’ ” Ms. Lee said.
About 10 employees were in the headquarters at the time of the shooting, and many fled, with one running two blocks to the Capitol to try to alert security, Ms. Lee said.
The police said the suspect next entered the Arkansas Baptist State Convention building several blocks away, where he pointed a gun at an employee but did not shoot. Dan Jordan, the convention’s business manager, told KTVH-TV that the suspect said he had just lost his job.
The suspect then fled in a blue Dodge truck, beginning a chase that involved several law enforcement agencies and reached into the next county.
When officers immobilized the truck, the suspect got out and began shooting. The police returned fire, wounding him. The suspect was flown to Baptist Health Medical Center, where he later died. Lieutenant Hastings said several weapons were recovered.
The Capitol was locked down for 45 minutes until word came that the gunman had been caught. Mr. Gwatney had a background in banking, and his family owns car dealerships in Arkansas and Tennessee. Lieutenant Hastings said the suspect was not a current or former employee of the car dealerships.
The shooting roiled the close-knit world of Arkansas Democratic politics, of which Mr. Gwatney was a longstanding member.
Mr. Gwatney acknowledged that his family’s wealth gave him the freedom to indulge his love of policy and politics. He served in the State Senate from 1993 to 2003, leaving office because of term limits. He represented Jacksonville, a Little Rock suburb, and made health care a central issue.
State Senator John Paul Capps, Democrat of Searcy, said Mr. Gwatney had divorced and remarried last year. Mr. Capps said Mr. Gwatney had two daughters and two stepdaughters.
Regarded as an innovative legislator, Mr. Gwatney headed a panel charged with rescuing the Arkansas State Police health insurance program, bluntly informing the trustees (mostly state police personnel) that its tradition of no premiums and low co-pays was unrealistic.
Perhaps his best-known legislative achievement was a law that required insurance companies to pay the same fees to out-of-network doctors who agreed to the same terms as network doctors.
Mr. Gwatney was the finance chairman for Mike Beebe’s successful campaign for governor in 2006, and was appointed by Mr. Beebe to head the state party.
Matt DeCample, the governor’s press secretary, said Mr. Beebe was in an airplane when he received word of the shooting, returned to Little Rock and went directly to the hospital.
“Arkansas has lost a great son, and I have lost a great friend,” Mr. Beebe said in a statement.
Mr. Gwatney, a supporter of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential bid, was to have been a superdelegate at the Democratic National Convention this month. Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, issued a joint statement after the attack.
“We are deeply saddened by the news that Bill Gwatney has passed away,” the statement said. “His leadership and commitment to Arkansas and this country have always inspired us and those who had the opportunity to know him. Our prayers are with his family during this time.”
Mr. Clinton was a former Arkansas governor.