William Alan Gwatney (August 26, 1959 – August 13, 2008) was an American politician who served as the State Chair of the

Democratic Party of Arkansas The Democratic Party of Arkansas is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Arkansas. The current party chair is Grant Tennille. Former U.S. president Bill Clinton was born in Arkansas, and served as state governor from 1979 to 198 ...

.AP story
He had previously served as a

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

for ten years and as the financial chair of

Mike Beebe Mickey Dale Beebe (; born December 28, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the List of governors of Arkansas, 45th governor of Arkansas from 2007 to 2015. He is to date the last Democrat to hold that office. Born in Amagon ...

's campaign for

Governor of Arkansas The governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics and government of Arkansas, Arkansas government a ...

in 2006. Gwatney was selected as a

superdelegate In American politics, a superdelegate is a delegate to a presidential nominating convention who is seated automatically. In Democratic National Conventions, superdelegates—described in formal party rules as the party leaders and electe ...

at the

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform an ...

, but was assassinated before the convention.

Death

On August 13, 2008, Gwatney was shot three times by Timothy Dale Johnson, who entered Democratic Party headquarters in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

. Gwatney was taken to a hospital, but died later that day. The gunman had said he wanted to speak with Gwatney about volunteering, but sidestepped his assistant when she said he was busy. After the shooting, the gunman fled the scene in his truck and led police on a chase out of Little Rock. Johnson was killed by police after a

PIT maneuver The PIT maneuver (precision immobilization techniqueRaviv, Shaun, and John Sullivan"Police driving maneuver used to end chases has killed 30 people since 2016, The Post finds", ''Washington Post'', August 24, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-24.), al ...

forced him off the road into a field near Sheridan. No motive was discovered, except Johnson quitting his job at a

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

retail store earlier that day.

Honors

The

University of Arkansas at Little Rock The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock, UALR) is a Public university, public research university in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the ...

(UALR) Athletic Department posthumously inducted Gwatney into their Hall of Fame during a ceremony prior to the tip-off of the men's basketball game vs. New Orleans on February 26, 2009.

References

External links

Democratic Party of Arkansas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gwatney, Bill 1959 births 2008 deaths 2008 murders in the United States 20th-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly 21st-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly American automobile salespeople Arkansas Democratic state chairmen Arkansas state senators Assassinated American politicians Businesspeople from Arkansas Deaths by firearm in Arkansas People murdered in Arkansas 20th-century American businesspeople North American politicians assassinated in the 2000s Assassinated leaders of political parties Politicians assassinated in 2008

Death

Honors

See also

References

External links