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The chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party died Wednesday, hours after a shooting at the party's headquarters, police said.
Chairman Bill Gwatney died at 3:59 Wednesday afternoon after a gunman entered his Little Rock office and shot him several times in the upper body, Little Rock Police Lt. Terry Hastings said.
Authorities confirmed the news shortly after former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton released a statement expressing their condolences.
"We are deeply saddened by the news that Bill Gwatney has passed away," the former governor and first lady of Arkansas said. "His leadership and commitment to Arkansas and this country have always inspired us and those who had the opportunity to know him."
The shooting suspect, a white male, also died Wednesday afternoon after a police chase ended in gunfire, Hastings said.
Authorities are working to confirm his identity, but Hastings said there was no indication that he was a former employee. He said police were investigating for possible motives, as well as why the suspect went into the Arkansas Baptist State Convention brandishing a gun.
The suspect walked into the downtown headquarters, near the state Capitol building, before noon.
The gunman said he was interested in volunteering, said Sam Higginbotham, a 17-year-old volunteer at the headquarters, The Associated Press reported.
"That was obviously a lie," Higginbotham said, the AP reported.
He said the man pushed his way past an employee to reach Gwatney's office, according to the AP.
A woman in a nearby business told CNN affiliate KTHV that Gwatney's assistant came in and asked her to call police.
"I thought maybe someone had gotten hit by a car," said Sarah Lee, who works at a florist's shop. "She was just shaking really bad." But then the woman said that Gwatney had been shot and that three shots had been fired, Lee said.
"She said she was waiting on the gentleman. He wanted to see the chairman. She tried to give him Democratic Party stuff," Lee told KTHV. "Evidently, he walked on around her and went in the office and started shooting."
A vehicle description was provided to police, Hastings said, and officers found it. A chase involving Little Rock police, Arkansas State Police and the Grant County Sheriff's Office ended about 20 miles south of Little Rock, where the suspect was shot and taken into custody, he said.
Police said the suspect drove into a ditch and around a set of spike strips in an attempt to evade police.
Authorities from Grant County said they used a "precision mobilization technique" to hit the vehicle from behind and ram it into another unit.
The man then got out of his vehicle and began shooting at officers, who returned fire.
In Sheridan, Arkansas, where the chase ended, a crowd gathered near the suspect's blue pickup as police cordoned off the area with yellow crime-scene tape. What appeared to be bullet holes could be seen in the truck's windshield.
Before the pursuit, Hastings said, witnesses reported that the suspect entered a nearby Arkansas Baptist State Convention after the shooting and pointed a gun at an employee.
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