TOMS RIVER — A deer led police on a chase inside an elementary school during Thanksgiving weekend.

Neighbors called 911 after they heard glass breaking and deer entering the Cedar Grove Elementary School, according to police.

Body cam footage released by police in a video set to "Run Run Rudolph" shows the deer running down a hallway, its footing slipping on the smooth floor.

It used its nose to pull open an unlocked classroom door and carefully walked across a desk at the front of the room knocking papers, books and a display as officers followed behind. The officers opened a door and the deer ran back outside.

Deer in a classroom at the Cedar Grove Elementary School in Toms River
Deer in a classroom at the Cedar Grove Elementary School in Toms River (Toms River police)
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A deer? In school? No way!

When students returned to school they asked why the window where the deer entered the school was broken.

"I didn't make a formal announcement. I spoke to kids on an individual basis when they asked about the broken window in the B-foyer. At first, they didn't believe me," Cedar Grove Principal Stacey Monetti said in an email. "Teachers were floored."

Toms River Regional School District spokesman Michael Kenny said the damage caused by the deer in the classroom was "minimal."

"Our head custodian, Frank Genty, is worth his weight in gold. He was here until 1 a.m. in the morning cleaning up after the deer," Kenny said.

The school is surrounded by woods with an athletic field in the back.

Deer outside the Cedar Grove Elementary School in Toms River
Deer outside the Cedar Grove Elementary School in Toms River (Toms River police)
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