New information on what happened at airport executive Bryan Malinowski’s house Tuesday morning is scant, and speculation is running the gamut.
Malinowski, 53, has served as the executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport since 2019. Around 6 a.m. Tuesday, federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives served a search warrant at Malinowski’s house in West Little Rock. He shot at the agents, according to a press release from the ATF, and they returned fire.
A source familiar with the situation told the Arkansas Times Tuesday evening that Malinowski had been shot in the head and was on life support. On Wednesday afternoon, Malinowski’s brother, Matthew Malinowski, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that his brother was brain dead and was “not going to make it.”
The ATF and the Arkansas State Police released initial statements Tuesday morning acknowledging the shooting, but authorities have provided no details about the incident since then, including the warrant itself. Officers were seen removing guns and other materials from the Malinowski home Tuesday evening, reportedly after opening a safe. A crew with the Little Rock Fire Department left Tuesday afternoon around 5 p.m. with large pry bars and saws.
Mary HenniganMalinowski’s neighbors said he was known as a gun enthusiast. Debra Bussell, who lives nearby, said Malinowski mostly kept to himself but got to talking when firearms were involved. He often went to gun shows, Bussell said. Bussell said she had been inside the Malinowski house several times over the years and didn’t notice anything strange.
So far, local, state and federal agencies have provided no explanation about why federal agents visited the house on Tuesday. With such a dearth of official information, the online rumor mill is running wild, from Clinton conspiracy theories to speculation about Mexican cartel involvement. But for now, we’ll have to wait for the real story to emerge.
