A TV reporter was struck by a bullet fragment during a Tuesday campaign event for Marine veteran Lucas Kunce, the Democrat running against Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).
Kunce was shooting an AR-15 at the time of the injury. According to the Kansas City Star, the fragment that hit the reporter—KSHB-TV’s Ryan Gamboa—appeared to have ricocheted off a target.
Kunce provided first aid, wrapping gauze around the wound and securing it with his belt. According to the Star, Gamboa was otherwise unharmed and remained at the range to continue covering the event.
The incident was quickly mocked by Hawley, who quipped: “When liberals play with guns, people get hurt.”
“I condemn all acts of violence against reporters and call on Kunce never to shoot another one,” Hawley joked in another post.
“My grandma is a better shot than Lucas Kunce,” he mocked in another post.
“I know the Kunce campaign needed a shot in the arm, but this is taking it a little far …” Hawley jested in another post mocking the incident.
Kunce, for his part, hit back at Hawley’s digs with a clip of footage showing the first-term senator running away from Jan. 6 rioters at the Capitol in 2021.
“The last time Josh Hawley saw a gun,” Kunce captioned the clip.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger—a Republican known for his outspoken criticism of former President Donald Trump—was in attendance at Kunce’s event and shared Kunce’s response to Hawley.
“lol. I was there. Would make sense that Josh is lying again,” Kinzinger said. “The reporter is fine, run away Josh! Back to Virginia for you!”
Kunce also shared images from the campaign event with a note about the incident on X.
“Great day at the range today with my friend @AdamKinzinger. We got to hang out with some union workers while exercising our freedom,” Kunce said. “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 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.”
But the images shared by Kunce have done the opposite of quelling backlash.
“You could’ve killed somebody today, you freaking moron,” replied the CEO of the Federalist, Sean Davis. “What kind of a brain dead idiot shoots steel inside 10 yards with a rifle?”
“Those photos will be used in gun safety classes all over the world for the next 50 years as perfect examples of what to never do,” Davis added in a separate post.
“No shot you’re shooting steel at like 10 yards rn,” swiped someone else.
“Journalists after escaping a Lucas Kunce campaign event,” replied another critic—along with the image of Trump fist pumping after a bullet struck his ear during the assassination attempt in July.
Former Rep. Peter Meijer likewise condemned the incident after seeing photos from the event.
“Photos before incident look like Kunce was firing at a (presumably steel) target from well under 10 meters,” he wrote. “What a stupid, reckless photo op.”
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