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VIDEO: Xavier Hawkins, "Southeast Santa," shot with pellet gun at toy giveawayBy Jay Korff, Kris Van Cleave December 24, 2013 - 09:29 amWASHINGTON (WJLA) - 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.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."In the video, you can hear Hawkins' booming voice faltering after being hit. It was an act of violence appalling on more levels than we can fathom."It's sad news, but I'm not surprised with what's going on around here," said SE resident Tasharn Richardson.We caught up with Hawkins while he picked up his favorite Christmas Day meal at a local market.“I felt the burning," he described of the feeling he got when shot.
