Brother of airport director shot by ATF agents speaks out about shooting
LITTLE ROCK — The brother of the Little Rock airport executive shot by federal agents serving a search warrant said he fears his brother may not survive.
Bryan Malinowski, 53, was injured in a shootout Tuesday with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at his west Little Rock home.
His older brother, Matthew Malinowski, told NBC News that the family was not sure if the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport executive director was “going to make it in the next 24 hours” while confirming his brother was shot in the head during the exchange of gunfire.
ATF officials said agents were serving a search warrant at Bryan Malinowski’s home just after 6 a.m. The agents said he fired at them from inside the home, at which point they returned fire. One ATF agent suffered a non-life-threatening injury and was hospitalized.
Matthew Malinowski questioned why agents came to his brother’s home so early instead of approaching him at work. He contends the agents “broke down his door” leaving his brother no choice but to “defend himself.”
“There’s something fishy here. The ATF went after him in the worst possible way,” he said. “There’s no reason why they couldn’t have arrested him at work at the airport.”
Malinowski also said it seemed odd that his brother could be entangled with the law, noting that he was well connected in Arkansas, had an annual salary of more than $250,000, lived in a nice suburb and had collections of guns and coins.
“When someone makes that much money, there’s no incentive to do anything wrong,” the brother said. “He has so much to lose.”
Meanwhile, Matthew Malinowski said doctors are keeping his brother on life support and not performing surgery because they don’t think he would survive.
“We don’t know how much longer he has to live,” he said.
With the family still wondering what sparked the shooting and federal investigators still not releasing any details, Matthew Malinowski feels the case against his brother doesn’t add up.
“Something stinks to high hell,” he said.