Santa Pulls Gun From Belt, Shoots Woman

December 19, 2001 3:29 pm EST

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A man in a Santa suit set aside his bag of gifts, drew a gun from his trademark black belt and shot a woman on a Sao Paulo street, wounding her in the wrist and face, police said.

The unidentified Santa was handing out candy to motorists stopped at a traffic light when he yanked the draw strings on his bag of sweets, pulled a revolver from his belt and fired at a woman who was entering her car parked nearby, said a spokesman at the Sao Paulo police department.

"The woman was wounded in her wrist and face but was not seriously hurt," the spokeswoman said Tuesday. She said the incident did not appear to be a botched robbery but gave no other explanation for the shooting.

A witness helped police artists draw up a composite sketch of the shooter Santa after she saw him with his beard, red suit and gloves removed. Those items, along with the gun, were recovered by police.

Local media reported the woman was involved in a paternity suit and said police were investigating the crime as a possible act of retaliation.

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2001

Answers

You might want to watch your spelling and punctuation in your letter to Santa as well.

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2001

Santa Abandons Reindeer and Tones Down 'Ho Ho Ho'

December 19, 2001 11:24 am EST

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Move over Rudolph. Santa has taken to the streets of Lima on a Harley Davidson.

Passers-by stared as a team of Peru's mostly female traffic police -- best known for refusing to take bribes -- roared along on their bikes wearing red hats, false beards and fur trimmings on their knee-high boots.

"We're trying to spread a bit of optimism, that's what Christmas is all about," Hector Dulanto, head of the traffic police, told Reuters, as his Santas set out to distribute sweets to children at a local church.

They are taking candies and toys to schools and community centers across Lima twice a day until the end of December.

"The children are a bit afraid of us. This is a way of getting closer to them," said one Santa, Patricia Montalban, as she parked her 1,350 cc tinsel-trimmed Harley Davidson.

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2001

Not sure about the beards, but the knee-high boots will work...

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2001