The Democratic Senate hopeful from Missouri, Lucas Kunce, informed law enforcement two days post-incident after a journalist was injured during a campaign event involving target shooting with an AR-15.
According to The Daily Wire, Kunce, alongside Republican ex-congressman Adam Kinzinger, participated in the event where rifles were discharged at a private location.
Reporter Ryan Gamboa sustained an injury from what seemed to be a stray bullet fragment or ricochet from the targets Kunce and Kinzinger were shooting at with high powered weapons from only a few yards away.
Kunce said that he reported the mishap to the local sheriff on Wednesday, well after the campaign event concluded on Monday.
The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office stated they are withholding further details due to the ongoing investigation.
Sen. Josh Hawley, Kunce’s opponent, took to social with his concerns, suggesting Kunce might have violated Missouri statutes by not immediately contacting police post-incident.
“Serious question. Missouri law *requires* any person who causes injury with a firearm to file a report with law enforcement immediately,” Hawley tweeted. “Did Lucas Kunce do that? Failure to do so is a crime.”
The Republican senator has had a field day trolling Kunce over the shooting mishap, after his rival shared photos of himself and Kinzinger firing rifles at extremely close targets while wearing safety glasses on top of thier heads.
“When liberals play with guns, people get hurt,” he tweeted, capping off the post with a clown emoji.
“I know the Kunce campaign needed a shot in the arm, but this is taking it a little far,” he added.
“I condemn all acts of violence against reporters and call on Kunce never to shoot another one,” Hawley tweeted along with laughing emojis.
