LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas prosecutor on Friday said a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent was justified when he fatally shot the Little Rock airport director during a raid at his house in March.
Pulaski County Prosecutor Will Jones said in a letter to ATF that no charges in the shooting would be filed after reviewing the Arkansas State Police investigation of the shooting of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport Executive Director Bryan Malinowski.
Malinowski died days after he was shot when ATF agents were were executing a warrant March 19 at his home in Little Rock. The ATF said agents returned fire after Malinowski shot at the agents, striking and injuring one of them.
An affidavit released after the shooting said Malinowski bought over 150 guns between May 2021 and February 2024 and that he resold many without a dealer's license.
In his letter, Jones said the agents had properly identified themselves with police running lights and sirens outdoors before they entered and announced their presence at the front door. Jones wrote that during the raid one of the agents saw another agent fall to the ground, heard a gunshot and saw Malinowski holding a gun.
''Given the totality of the circumstances, Agent 2 had a reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary to defend himself and Agent 1,'' Jones wrote. ''Therefore, the use of deadly force by Agent 2 was in accordance with Arkansas law and was justified.''
ATF spokesperson Kristina Mastropasqua called the state's investigation into the shooting ''prompt, professional and independent'' and said it's now under internal review by the agency.
The Malinowski family has called the ATF's tactics in the raid ''completely unnecessary" and has complained about a lack of details from the ATF. An attorney for Malinowski's family has said he was a gun collector and wasn't aware he was under investigation for his reselling firearms at gun shows.
