Arkansas State Police Close Probe in Bill Gwatney Killing; Motive Remains Unknown

[Seeking Serenity]

Source: Arkansas Business

City and state police have closed their investigations into last summer's shooting of Arkansas' Democratic Party chairman without offering an explanation of why the attack occurred.

Bill Gwatney died Aug. 13 after being shot three times by a Searcy man who had been fired from his job at a Target store that morning. Timothy Dale Johnson was chased into Grant County, where he was shot and killed after threatening officers.

(snip)

Authorities discovered a note with a telephone number and the word "Gwatney" on it in Johnson's home, but the report found that it was a telephone number for Gwatney Towing Company in Jacksonville, which is no longer in business. The note also listed other numbers for local towing companies, the report said.

The FBI also reviewed the history on Johnson's computer, and found that he visited Wikipedia, Yahoo and news sites the day before the shooting. Johnson also visited the Web site of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms that day, the report said.



Read more: http://arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?lID=84&sID=85&ms=86&cID=Z&aID=110196.54928.122322

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LRPD also said that Johnson "was on an antidepressant and that the drug may have played a part in his 'irrational and violent behavior.'"

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Smirk" - Cabal O' Republi-corrupties

[enlightenment]

2. Sometimes the answers just aren't there -

There was a shooting a couple of months ago in Grand Junction, CO - a young man from Denver showed up at the home of a former president of the local college. The victims were with another couple, getting ready to leave on a vacation trip. The shooter killed the president's wife and the other man (the friend), severely wounded the friend's wife and severely wounded another man who heard the shots and tried to help. He shot at the president several times and missed (which is when the other man showed up) - then ran. He was chased by the police and ended up killing himself.

No one knows why. There is nothing to connect him to any of those people - or even to Grand Junction.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. I heard a bout a case somewhat like that..and it turned out that the killer had misread the address

on the house and had killed the wrong family.

One never knows what the hell is going on in the mind of someone who could do this kind of thing.

[lapfog_1]

3. It seems that the reasons are in the report....

just not spelled out.

Antidepressants - long speculated to cause dissociative and hallucinatory events in some patients.

Gwatney Towing.... possibly it would be worthwhile to see if Mr. Johnson had a car repossessed in the year prior to his rampage, possibly he knew the name of the towing company that effected the repo, and possibly he then "googled" for the owner, got a lot of hits for Bill Gwatney, him being a prominent politician, and, in Mr. Johnson's delusional state, he made a connection (false) between the towing company and Bill.

And the reason it hasn't seen more airtime is

a) Speculation, since Mr. Johnson is now dead.

b) the drug company does not want this associated with THEIR anti-depressant.

Well, it's a theory that fits the facts that have been reported.

[Seeking Serenity]

4. I would like to know what he pages he read on Wiki, Yahoo, BATF websites, though.

That's somewhat interesting info, but not enough.