Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Shot Killed: UPDATE: Shooter Was Fired Employee Former Employee Claim Walked Back

Details are still coming in, but it appears a man showed up at Democratic Party headquarters, asked for chairman Bill Gwatney by name, was denied a meeting, and then pushed his way in and then shot Gwatney before fleeing.

KATV reports that police chased the suspect and that he is now believed to be dead, though that is unconfirmed at this time; Fox 16 only confirms he was shot by police.

Please pray for Mr. Gwatney and his family.

We'll update as more information becomes available.

Update: Ark Times blog has the most detail on this developing story, including the claim that the shooter switched vehicles during his attempted escape, and that he in custody. There are contradicting reports about the shooter's condition.

Update: Among other sources, WREG seems to be going the "airing the theory" route, noting Gwatney owns multiple car dealerships and that the suspect made comments about losing his job recently. That does not mean the suspect was a Gwatney employee of course—he could just as easily have some other reason for targeting Gwatney, personal or political—but until the suspect is identified, we simply won't know more.

The most recent update to the Ark Times blog also notes that Gwatney's dealerships had recent layoffs, the shooter was apparently one of Gwatney's employee's (still not officially confirmed), and that the shooter died en route to the hospital.

The national media is slow to catch up on the suspected motivations of the shooter. I'm certain that this is out of concerns for accuracy, and not an attempt to let misplaced anger simmer for as long as possible for those who would ascribe a political motivation.

Like clockwork: The paranoids denizens of the Democratic Undergound, Think Progress, and other "progressive" sites have laid the blame squarely at the feet of conservatives, talk radio... and racists?

Update: Gwatney has died.

There is some disagreement over the suspect's ID but the aforementioned Ark Times blog presently states:

...the suspect was a former employee of a Gwatney car dealership. News reports are identifying him as Tim Johnson, 50, of Searcy. According to one report, unconfirmed he was a body shop worker at a Gwatney dealership in Sherwood. A woman who answered the phone there hung up after issuing a no comment to a question. A Little Rock police spokesman, however, told Arkansas Business that the shooter was not a Gwatney dealership employee.

RTT News (a source I am not familiar with) cites police sources as confirming Johnson as the shooter.

8:26 PM Update: Significant media backtracking on earlier claims that Johnson was a Gwatney bodyshop employee, and once again returning to the latest iteration of the Ark Times blog, there may be no direct link at all:

Johnson had no prior police record, according to the Little Rock police and a motive was still unknown. "This is one of those where we may never know," said Police Lt. Terry Hastings.

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.