The Democrat senate candidate who left a reporter wounded after shooting targets with an AR-15 at a campaign event alerted the police two days after the incident, which is currently under investigation by authorities, according to correspondence viewed by The Daily Wire.
Lucas Kunce, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate from Missouri, hosted a campaign event on Tuesday alongside anti-Trump former congressman Adam Kinzinger, where two fired rifles at a private residence, leaving one reporter injured. The reporter, Ryan Gamboa, was injured after he was struck in the arm by what appears to have been a fragment of a bullet or a deflected round that bounced off of the steel targets that the group was shooting just yards away with a high-powered rifle.
Kunce announced that he notified the local sheriff of the incident on Wednesday, days after his campaign event. His call to the Clinton County Sheriff appears to have come following an inquiry from The Daily Wire, which was investigating whether the Democrat may have acted in violation of the law by failing to report the shooting incident. The sheriff’s department said it is unable to release further information about the incident because it’s “under investigation.”
The Kunce campaign did not respond to a Daily Wire inquiry.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who Kunce is challenging, took to X to warn that the Democrat could have broken the law by not immediately calling the police after the incident.
“Serious question. Missouri law *requires* any person who causes injury with a firearm to file a report with law enforcement immediately,” Hawley, the former Attorney General of Missouri, wrote. “Did Lucas Kunce do that? Failure to do so is a crime.”
The Democratic candidate was slammed online after he first announced that the reporter had been injured at his campaign event, with many criticizing his use of steel targets, which appear to have been shot by AR-15 rifles at close range.
“Always have your first aid kit handy. Shrapnel can always fly when you hit a target like today, and you’ve got to be ready to go,” Kunce wrote in a post on X. “We had four first aid kits, so we were able to take care of the situation, and I’m glad Ryan is okay and was able to continue reporting.”
Great day at the range today with my friend @AdamKinzinger. We got to hang out with some union workers while exercising our freedom. Always have your first aid kit handy. Shrapnel can always fly when you hit a target like today, and you’ve got to be ready to go. We had four first… pic.twitter.com/Qu4YxfrtrU
— Lucas Kunce (@LucasKunceMO) October 23, 2024
“You could’ve killed somebody today, you freaking moron. What kind of a brain dead idiot shoots steel inside 10 yards with a rifle?” CEO of The Federalist wrote in response to the candidate’s post.
“You shot a reporter while firing .556 and .308 rifles at steel targets at 7 yards? The minimum safe distance for steel targets is 100 yards with those weapons,” another user wrote.
Kunce is trailing Hawley, who was first elected in 2018, by wide margins in the polls. The election is November 5.
