ATF Agent Won’t Be Charged in Death of Arkansas Airport Executive in Raid

The federal agent who fatally shot the executive director of Little Rock’s airport during an early morning raid in March was justified in his use of force, an Arkansas prosecutor said on Friday, ruling out any charges.

Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had executed a search warrant at the home of the director, Bryan Malinowski, 53, on suspicion that he had repeatedly sold guns without a license.

After agents entered the house, which sits on quiet cul-de-sac in Little Rock, Mr. Malinowski fired at them, shooting one agent in the foot, the authorities said. Another agent returned fire, shooting Mr. Malinowski in the head. Two days later, Mr. Malinowski died in a hospital.

His death was met with outrage from his family, friends and gun-rights supporters in Arkansas and beyond, who believed that the raid on March 19 was ill-conceived and a case of government overreach. The raid also stunned residents and lawmakers across the state who wondered how a respected official could have been the target of an early morning raid.

The A.T.F. said shortly after the raid that it had been investigating Mr. Malinowski for months after suspecting that he had been selling a large number of firearms at gun shows without a license, sometimes soon after he bought them. The agency also found that Mr. Malinowski had purchased more than 150 guns from 2021 to February 2024, including multiples of the same models; an A.T.F. affidavit did not specify exactly how many of those he had sold.