Arkansas Democratic leader dies after shooting

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas has been killed by a gunman who barged into the party's state headquarters and opened fire, police and Democratic leaders said.

Bill Gwatney "was shot multiple times" in the upper body Wednesday and died of his wounds a few hours later, Little Rock police department Lieutenant Terry Hastings said in a briefing aired by FOX News.

The killing of Gwatney left fellow Democratic leaders in shock less than two weeks before the party's national convention in the midst of a fierce White House battle.

"We are deeply saddened by the news that Bill Gwatney has passed away," former president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary said in a joint statement. The couple lived for years in the Arkansas capital...