No charges after flying metal reporter grazes event for Missouri’s Democratic Senate candidate

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from Missouri will not face charges after a reporter was slightly injured by flying metal during a campaign event at a shooting range.

Clinton County Sheriff Larry Fish said in a report Monday that there was no “malicious intent” by Democrat Lucas Kunce or other shooters during the Oct. 22 event at a private shooting range about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Kansas City, Missouri.

The KSHB-TV reporter felt a pinch and later noticed he was bleeding, the police report said. He continued to cover the event after being bandaged up by Kunce, and was subsequently treated at a hospital for a minor injury.

He declined to press charges, calling it a “freak accident,” according to the police report.

Fish wrote that it is also unclear who fired the bullet that led to the injury.

The shooting, which also included a former Republican U.S. congressman who supports Kunce’s effort to oust Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, appeared designed to drum up support for Kunce among gun owners, Republicans and moderates in a state now defined by the The political dominance of the GOP, including a strong belief in gun rights.

Hawley said last week at a rally at a farm near Jefferson City that Kunce’s campaign has long needed “a boost” but that “he’s taken it too literally.”

He criticized the Kunce event as unsafe, saying Kunce was too close to steel targets to fire an AR-15 style rifle. Fish said that after the event he measured the distance between the shooting range and the targets at about 10 yards. The reporter said he was about 30 feet away from the gunmen.

“I know we have a number of reporters here today. “I just want to say to you guys, listen, I promise you I’m not going to shoot you – no matter how many tough questions you ask,” Hawley told reporters covering his farmers’ rally. “And I now call on Lucas Kunce to pledge never to shoot again. to shoot another reporter.”

Kunce said in a statement last week that safety is important to the campaign, “which is why the range was created and managed by an NRA training consultant.”

“But any time you handle weapons, you have to be prepared,” he said. “We acted quickly and I’m glad the reporter was okay and able to continue reporting.”

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Associated Press writer David A. Lieb contributed to this report.