Dean honors Arkansas Dem leader, hope for a tribute at the convention.

LITTLE ROCK - National Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean said Thursday he hoped the Arkansas party chairman who was gunned down in his office would be memorialized in some way when delegates gather later this month in Denver for the Democratic convention. Dean credited Bill Gwatney for his fundraising prowess at the helm of the state Democratic Party, and said Gwatney was responsible for two of the biggest fundraisers in state party history.

Gwatney died Wednesday after a gunman burst into the state headquarters in Little Rock and shot him. The suspect, Timothy Dale Johnson of Searcy, was fatally wounded when he confronted police after a 30-mile chase. Police so far say they have not found a link between Johnson and Gwatney.

Dean said any tribute or memorial at the National Convention would depend on the wishes of Gwatney's family and the state's delegation. He said he wasn't sure what form it might take.

"I think everyone is in such shock now that we haven't gotten around to that," Dean told The Associated Press in an interview.

Dean said the two Jefferson-Jackson dinners _ the annual major fundraiser for the party _ that were held under Gwatney's watch were the largest in state party history. He also said Gwatney helped strengthen the party finances.

A former state senator and car dealer, Gwatney was Gov. Mike Beebe's finance chairman in the 2006 governor's election and was selected in March 2007 as the party's new chairman. Dean credited Gwatney's work on Beebe's fundraising as key in a Democratic sweep of constitutional offices in 2006.

Police said Timothy Dale Johnson, 50, also owned at least 16 guns, had antidepressant pills and made out a will before shooting Bill Gwatney on Wednesday at party headquarters in Little Rock. He had driven there more than 30 miles after losing his job at a Target store over some graffiti written on a store wall.

The name "Gwatney" and a telephone number were written on a Post-It note found in Johnson's home, police said. They wouldn't say whether the number matched the Democratic headquarters or a Gwatney-owned car dealership, if either.

"Those are things we're investigating. Right now we don't have any indication of motive as far as it deals with Mr. Gwatney," Little Rock police Lt. Terry Hastings said.

After Johnson was killed in a shootout with police, officers found two guns in his pickup truck. Court documents show officers searching Johnson's home found 13 long guns, a pistol and a prescription antidepressant. Police also found a computer there and were going through it, Hastings said.