Santa Claus has been shot!
A coward with a pellet gun was way over the line of ordinary naughty as he shot a man dressed in a St. Nick outfit in the back Tuesday during a toy giveaway in a Washington, D.C., neighborhood.
"Who shoots Santa Claus on Christmas?" one person exclaimed to TV Station WJLA, which captured the incident.
The elderly man was walking down a street talking to a cameraman when he was shot from faraway.
"Oh yes, Merrrryyyyy," he said as he waved to people in the community - and then he was hit before he could say "Christmas."
He spun around after the shocking incident and grabbed his back. He started grunting in pain and kneeled over.
"Ahhhh. Something's in my back. My back, my back," he said as he tried to keep up a good face.
The victim was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to a local hospital where he is expected to be fine, the station reported. He had a pellet lodged in his shoulder, the station reported.
The street was pretty empty and the houses are pretty far back on the lots, the video shows. Police told the station they were looking for a shooter in a second-story window.
Santa was at the Berry Farm public housing complex for a toy drive to distribute 600 presents to local children. Santa badly wanted to stay but paramedics insisted he go to the hospital, the station reported.
"I'm glad I got hit and no one else got hurt," he told the station while being treated. "I really am. For real. I mean, that's real."
The shooting did not affect the toy drive which continued with a man in a Grinch costume taking over for Santa.