By Steve Neavling
The Arkansas airport executive who was wounded in a shootout with ATF agents died on Thursday, authorities said.
The death of Bryan Malinowski, 53, the executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, comes as new details emerge in an unsealed affidavit.
Malinowski shot at agents trying to carry out a search warrant on Tuesday, authorities said, The New York Times reports.
Malinowski was accused of illegally selling firearms. In recent years, he had purchased more than 100 guns, indicating on forms that the firearms were for himself, according to the affidavit. He then sold many of the firearms at gun shows “without asking for identification or paperwork.”
At one point, he sold guns to undercover agents, according to the affidavit.
In a statement, his family said they didn’t understand what “led to a dawn raid on a private home and triggered the use of deadly force.”
“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 family said.
The ATF has not commented on the case.
Malinowski has worked at the airport for more than 30 years, according to the airport’s website.
