An Official of the Democratic Party Murdered

Bill Gwatney, president of the Democratic Party of Arkansas and close to the Clintons, was shot in his own office. His murderer was killed by the police.

The chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, a state in the south of the USA, was killed Wednesday in his offices by an armed man, who shot him three times. Timothy Dale Johnson, the murderer, 50 years old, went to the Democratic Party headquarters in Little Rock, capital of the state, claiming to be a volunteer, said Saturday Higginbotham, a 17-year old volunteer who was on the scene.

According to the police, he then fired three times on the party chairman Bill Gwatney, 48 years old, a former Arkansas Senator and a super delegate of the party for the Democratic convention scheduled for the end of this month in Denver. He had at first planned to vote for Hillary Clinton, whose husband Bill was governor of Arkansas, before supporting Barack Obama after Hillary Clinton announced her withdrawal from the race for the White House.

Bill Gwatney was hospitalized in critical condition before succumbing to his injuries four hours later. In a joint statement, Bill and Hillary Clinton have saluted “a friend and adorable confidant .”

As for the shooter, after the attack, he fled to the headquarters of a Baptist church where he threatened an administrator with his weapon, saying “I lost my job.” After he opened fire on the police, he was shot dead by the police after he’d traveled about fifty kilometers in a car. Two pistols were found in his vehicle. He was 51 years old, but his identity has not been disclosed.

Earlier in the day, he had been chased at the door of a shop near a city for writing graffiti on the walls of the building.

This murder occurs as the USA is in the midst of campaigning for the presidency and many local elections. A senatorial seat and three representatives’ seats are at stake in Arkansas.