ATF was serving a federal search warrant at home in Little Rock, Arkansas, at 6 a.m.
Bryan Malinowski, executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas, died on Thursday after he was shot in his home Tuesday morning as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was serving a federal search warrant.
The ATF believed he was selling guns without a license, and without asking buyers for the proper information.
They arrived at Mr. Malinowski’s home in Little Rock around 6 a.m.
Federal officials said Mr. Malinowski shot first from inside the home, at which point agents returned fire, hitting him multiple times.
Mr. Malinowski, 53, was treated at the scene by paramedics before being transported to a local hospital, where he was placed on life support and later died.
An ATF agent sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and was transported to a local hospital, state police said.
“The ATF should have never raided him like they did,” his older brother Matt Malinowski told KARK. “You don’t send a whole group of people with high-armed weapons like they did at 6:00 in the morning, Arrest him at work! He goes to work every day. He’s a very public figure.”
The Malinowski family released a statement through an attorney Thursday, asking the media and the public to respect their privacy.
“Our family has endured an unspeakable tragedy and one that is almost impossible to understand,” the statement from Attorney Bud Cummins said. “Our thoughts and prayers also go out to the government agent who was injured yesterday, and to his family. We do not understand the government’s decisions which led to a dawn raid on a private home and triggered the use of deadly force. We are obviously concerned about the allegations in the affidavit released by the government today.”
Even if the allegations in the affidavit are true, they don’t begin to justify what happened, the statement added.
“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. For now, we will wait for all the facts to come out.”
By Beth Brelje
