Xavier Hawkins, "Southeast (D.C.) Santa," shot

December 25, 2013

A man in a Santa Claus suit who has been identified as Xavier Hawkins was shot in the back with a pellet gun Tuesday morning during a toy giveaway in a part of Southeast Washington plagued by crime.

Public Advocate president Eugene Delgaudio, "To shoot Santa on Christmas eve is a horrible and sick act. But this brave man Xavier Hawkins takes it in stride and is a moral example to the world. Hawkins says he will return to give gifts to poor children. God Bless him and his mission."

ABC 7 TV news reports:

The video is disturbing. The man dressed as Santa has led the annual Barry Farm gift giveaway for the last seven years, and according to an ABC7 photographer who was interviewing the victim at the time of the shooting, the he was struck in his upper back then transported to a nearby hospital with the pellet still lodged in his shoulder.

Later on Tuesday, we saw Xavier Hawkins again after he was released from the hospital. He showed us the tear in his Santa suit as well as the scene of the depraved crime:

"Oh, here's the hole. That's where I got shot -- right there."

Report from Fox TV News

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g3E8TLUJC0