Bryan Malinowski, the Arkansas airport executive injured in a shootout with federal agents serving a search warrant at his home earlier this week, died Thursday, his employer confirmed.
The 53-year-old allegedly opened fire as agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives attempted to serve the warrant at his home in Little Rock shortly after 6 a.m. on Tuesday, with one agent suffering non-life-threatening injuries. Law enforcement returned fire, hitting Malinowski. His brother said Malinowski had been “shot in the head.”
Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, where Malinowski had worked for 16 years, confirmed in a statement that he died Thursday. “Under his leadership, our airport has experienced significant growth and success, expanding services and offerings to our community and state,” said Bill Walker, chair of the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to Bryan’s wife, Maer, loved ones and friends.”
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A redacted affidavit released Thursday alleged that Malinowski had purchased more than 150 guns between May 2021 and February 2024 and he’d subsequently resold many of the firearms without a dealer’s license, according to KARK-TV. About six of the guns he allegedly sold were recovered in the commission of a crime, according to the affidavit, while another three were sold by Malinowski to undercover agents at gun shows.
Malinowski had bought the guns legally and checked boxes on purchase forms indicating that the weapons were for himself, the document states. He would then resell them through gun shows, sometimes within as little as 24 hours.
The affidavit claims Malinowski sold guns to “several subjects without asking for any identification or paperwork” and allegedly told one undercover agent expressing interest in a purchase: “Cash, no paper.”
A statement released Thursday by Malinowski’s family through a spokesperson said his loved ones “do not understand the government’s decisions which led to a dawn raid on a private home and triggered the use of deadly force,” according to Arkansas Times. The family said they are “obviously concerned” about Malinowski’s alleged wrongdoing, but even if the accusations are true, “they don’t begin to justify what happened.”
“At worst, Bryan Malinowski, a gun owner and gun enthusiast, stood accused of making private firearm sales to a person who may not have been legally entitled to purchase the guns,” the statement added. The family called Malinowski’s death “an unspeakable tragedy and one that is almost impossible to understand” and said their “thoughts and prayers” are with the ATF agent injured in the shootout.
