JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Democratic U.S.
Senate candidate from Missouri will not be charged after a reporter was slight injured from flyaway metal during a campaign event at a shooting range. Clinton County Sheriff Larry Fish in a Monday report said there was no “ill intent” by Democrat Lucas Kunce or other shooters at the Oct. 22 event on 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, according to the police report. He continued to cover the event after being bandaged by Kunce, then was treated for a minor injury at a hospital. He declined to press charges, calling it a “freak” accident, according to the police report.
Fish wrote that it's also unclear who fired the round that led to the injury. The shooting event, which also featured a former Republican U.S.
congressman who is backing Kunce's bid to unseat Republican U.S. Sen.
Josh Hawley, appeared to be aimed at garnering support for Kunce among gun-owners, Republicans and moderates in a state now defined by the GOP's political dominance, including a strong belief in gun rights . Speaking last week at rally on a farm near Jefferson City, Hawley said that Kunce’s campaign has long needed “a shot in the arm” but that “he’s taken it too literally.” He criticized the Kunce event as unsafe, saying that Kunce was too close to steel targets to be firing an AR-15-style rifle.
Fish said that af.