Man in Trump mask, Santa hat shoots relative in Rohnert Park, police say

A Rohnert Park man was hospitalized with serious injuries Saturday after police said an estranged relative wearing a Donald Trump mask, Santa hat and fake beard opened fire into the victim’s garage.

Rohnert Park police arrested Gerald Jacinth, a 75-year-old Las Vegas resident, on suspicion of attempted murder shortly after the shooting on Manchester Avenue on Saturday morning.

Jacinth, who was in jail Saturday evening with bond set at $1 million, walked up his 77-year-old brother-in-law’s driveway to his open garage about 11:20 a.m. Jacinth was carrying a “present” and a duffel bag while clad in a Trump mask as well as the hat and curly white beard of Santa Claus, police said in a news release.

The victim, who was not identified by name, refused to accept the present, police said. After an exchange of words — it wasn’t immediately clear what was said — Jacinth appeared to raise the duffel bag and shot the victim once, then again as the man turned to run into his home.

Jacinth fled in his black Dodge car — but not before his wounded brother-in-law took a picture of him getting into the vehicle, police said. The suspect was arrested in a cul-de-suc in southeast Rohnert Park within minutes, and a search of the duffel bag turned up a .380 caliber handgun, police said.

The package carried by the shooter was deemed suspicious, and the sheriff’s bomb squad investigated before determining it to be relatively innocuous given the context: a towel wrapped in a box.

You can reach Staff Writer Will Schmitt at 707-521-5207 or will.schmitt@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @wsreports.