A man wearing a beard and Santa hat and President Donald Trump’s mask shot his brother-in-law twice in California on Saturday, officials said.
The victim was hospitalized with serious but life-threatening injuries after the morning attack in Rohnert Park, California, the Rohnert Park Department of Public Security said in a statement.
Gerald Jacinth, 75, of Las Vegas, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. He was wearing his apparent disguise when he parked across the street from his brother-in-law’s house and came over to deliver a package to him, department officials said.
“He parked his black Dodge car across the street from the victim’s house wearing a Donald Trump-like head mask, a long curly white beard and a Santa Claus hat as he went up the garage,” officials at Rohnert Park said.
The 77-year-old victim, whose name was not released by the police, found Jacinth outside, but did not recognize him, the police said. He did not want to take the package, which the suspect said was a “special delivery”, and Jacinth lifted a backpack he was carrying and opened fire, the department said.
It was not clear whether the victim, who was hit twice, was shot in the bag.
“Even though the victim was suffering from two gunshot wounds,” the police said, “he still managed to get a picture of Jacinth getting into his vehicle while on the run.”
The victim’s wife called 911 and police arrived in the area in a minute, public security officials said. Jacinth was driving nearby when he was cornered by the authorities and surrendered, they said.
“While searching the vehicle, police found a .380 pistol in a backpack,” said the department. They also found the beard mask, police said.
A box in the victim’s garage – it was unclear if it was the package – was considered suspect, and a Sonoma County ammunition disposal team responded and finally determined that there was a towel inside.
