A television reporter still has shrapnel embedded in his arm after being wounded at a campaign event for Democratic Senate candidate Lucas Kunce that was held at a shooting range — and the Missouri politician didn’t call the cops until the day after the mishap, according to a police report obtained by The Post.
A stray bullet fragment hit KHSB-TV reporter Ryan Gamboa in his right arm as he was covering the Oct. 22 event, making “a small puncture wound on his upper arm” that felt to him only like a “pinch” before he felt the warm blood soaking his shirt sleeve.
“He rolled his sleeve up and observed his arm covered in blood and notified someone nearby,” the report states.
The newsman was later treated at a local hospital — only to learn that there was still shrapnel lodged in his arm.
“At the hospital he was advised there was a small piece of metal under his skin and the hospital staff advised they were going to leave it [sic] there,” the report states. “The hospital staff cleaned the wound further and bandaged the wound up further.”
Gamboa said he felt fine after the “freak” accident, and Kunce helped him to apply bandages but had suggested he seek further medical attention.
Kunce left the firing range at 4:15 p.m. CDT and didn’t call the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office to report the incident until Oct. 23.
A Marine veteran, Kunce was joined by former Illinois GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an-ex Air Force pilot, at a local union member’s private gun range in Holt, Mo.
Photos showed the pair firing from a scoped AR-style rifle at what appear to be aluminum cans from about 25 feet away with Gamboa and other reporters stationed about 30 feet further behind.
“The distance was ten (10) paces, approximately ten (10) yards, from the tables to the A- frames,” the report notes. “It is undetermined if the tables and/or A-frames had been moved prior to or since the event took place.”
Kinzinger said he believed “a fragment from a .223 rounds [sic] they were shooting struck Gamboa,” the report also shows.
It’s unclear why the US military vets would use such powerful rifles on such close targets. AR-style rifles can be fired hundreds of yards.
At least one online observer joked the set up looked like “A Where’s Waldo for ‘things that would get you perma-banned from any state-regulated gun range.’”
Stephen Gutowski, a journalist and founder of the gun policy and politics-focused outlet The Reload, previously told The Post that based on the pictures, “it appears the issue stemmed from them shooting at stationary steel targets with a rifle at a short distance.”
“Shooting steel always carries some level of risk of ricochets or bullet splatter,” Gutowski said. “However, that risk is usually mitigated by having the steel hang in a way that allows them to swing and by only shooting steel with a rifle at much longer distances.”
Kunce told the sheriff’s office that a United Auto Workers member named “Chad” had offered the range up for the campaign after being asked to do so by a female Clay County Democratic Party official named only as “Hefty.”
“They were inquiring fi [sic] she knew of any local people who had a shooting range to conduct some target practice and possibly do a ‘promo/interview’ videos,” Hefty told officers, according to the report.
He maintained in the police report that their event took the necessary safety precautions and had “multiple first aid kits” on site in case of an accident.
Neither Gamboa nor the Clinton County prosecutor pressed charges, and the case has now been closed.
Kunce is trying to unseat first-term GOP Sen. Josh Hawley in the 2024 election, but is trailing by double-digit percentage points in four of the five most recent public polls.
Gamboa and reps for the Kunce campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.