The Democratic candidate for Missouri was brutally mocked after he struck a television reporter with shrapnel from an AR-15 round during a campaign event on Tuesday.
Wannabe Senator Lucas Kunce was firing the weapon during an appearance at a private range in Holt, Missouri when a bullet fragment struck television reporter Ryan Gamboa in the arm.
The Democrat firing shots alongside former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger before he had bandage the KSHB-TV journalist’s bloody arm.
‘Great day at the range today with my friend Adam Kinzinger,’ Kunce wrote. ‘We got to hang out with some union workers while exercising our freedom.’
A reporter (left) was hit with a bullet fragment during a campaign event for Democrat Lucas Junce (center) with former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger (right)
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) jumped on the opportunity to slam his Democratic challenger for his Senate seat
‘Always have your first aid kit handy,’ he continued in an X post.
‘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.’
Sen. Josh Hawley didn’t let the opportunity slip to attack the man trying to take his seat in the election in just 14 days.
‘When liberals play with guns, people get hurt,’ he wrote on X, adding a clown emoji.
He questioned in another post on Tuesday evening: ‘Will the reporter Kunce shot be pressing charges?’
Kunce was holding a campaign event at a private residence near Holt, which is north of Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday when a bullet fragment from an AR-15 shot ricocheted off a target and struck the local reporter’s arm.
Kunce, who spent 13 years in the Marines, wrapped gauze around Gamboa’s arm to stop the bleeding. Later the wound was wrapped with medical tape.
After his arm was treated, Gamboa remained at the range to finish his assignment.
Hawley questioned if local television reporter Ryan Gamboa would be pressing charges against Kunce
There is an image of the reporter holding up a microphone during a joint interview with Kunce and Kinzinger with blood staining the microphone-wielding, outreached arm of his shirt.
Kinzinger, who was an anti-Trump congressman from Illinois that now promotes Democrats, joined Kunce for his campaign event on Tuesday.
‘I condemn all acts of violence against reporters and call on Kunce never to shoot another one,’ Hawley wrote with laughing emojis.
Kunce won’t have any easy time trying to oust Hawley, who is seeking a second term in the U.S. Senate.
An Emerson College/The Hill poll from September shows Hawley with 51 percent support to Kunce’s 40 percent.
