What happened at Lucas Kunce's campaign event at a shooting range? Reporter left bleeding after being hit with bullet fragment
A reporter was injured on October 22 after a firing mishap at a shooting campaign held by Lucas Kunce, a Democratic candidate for the US Senate. Ryan Gamboa, a TV reporter for KSHB-TV, was struck by a bullet fragment, reportedly from the AR-15 fired by Kunce, that ricocheted from the metal target.
The politician, who was a Marine for over 13 years, immediately administered first aid to the injury. He stopped the bleeding by tying a tourniquet around the arm and bandaging it with gauze and medical tape. The shooting event, held at a gun range on the outskirts of Kansas City, was attended by former Republican Adam Kinzinger and other union members.
According to his website, Lucas Kunce is a Yale graduate who earned his law degree at the University of Missouri. Following his graduation, he joined the Marine Corps, where he served for 13 years. Kunce's reason for running for the US Senate was to "take power back for working families in Missouri and across America."
"Always have your first aid kit handy" — Lucas Kunce about the firing accident
According to KSDK, Lucas Kunce's campaign team released an audio clip of the politician addressing the shooting accident to the media. Kunce cautioned people to always keep a first aid kit in hand when firing a gun, adding that shrapnel tended to ricochet.
“Always have your first aid kit handy. You never know what’s going to happen. Shrapnel can always bounce off of anything and come back and nick somebody, and you’ve got to be ready for that, you've got to be ready to go. We had four first aid kits here, and I’m pretty proud of that. We were able to take care of the situation," he said.
He then addressed the injured reporter, hoping his arm felt better after being wrapped up. Gamboa stayed on at the event to continue his work despite his injury. Lucas Kunce also posted photos from the shooting event to his X account, adding that he had a "great day at the range" with Kinzinger.
The pictures showed Kinzinger shooting some cans with a rifle. It also included a picture of Kunce administering first aid to Gamboa after the accident. However, the post was poorly received on social media, with many criticizing Kunce for the incident.
His competitor, Missouri's Republican Senator Josh Hawley, mocked Lucas Kunce's shooting skills, claiming his grandma had better aim than him. He also posted a slew of posts trolling his rival for the accident.
"I condemn all acts of violence against reporters and call on Kunce never to shoot another one," he wrote.
He also took this as an opportunity to advertise his campaign. In another post, he added that while Kunce was "busy shooting at reporters," he and his wife traveled around Missouri for the election, uploading a video of the campaign.
Following the barrage of criticism, Adam Kinzinger came to Lucas Kunce's defense, claiming that the reporter was fine.
"Lol. I was there. Would make sense that Josh is lying again. The reporter is fine, run away Josh! Back to Virginia for you!" he posted on X.
Lucas Kunce continues his campaign to gain more votes to beat the incumbent, Josh Hawley. However, the latest poll showed that the Democratic candidate had catching up to do, as he was behind Hawley, securing only 40% of the votes.