WENATCHEE — A 23-year-old Wenatchee man who thought he’d been popped in the posterior by a pellet gun learned early Saturday that he’d been shot with a small-caliber bullet, Wenatchee police said Saturday.

The man was walking just after midnight Saturday near the corner of Fifth Street and N. Emerson Ave. when he felt a pain in his rear end, said Cpl. Tim Lykken of the Wenatchee Police Department.

“He thought he’d been shot by a pellet gun,” said the officer. “He went to the emergency room anyway at Central Washington Hospital, just to have it checked out. And that’s when he found out he’d been shot by a small-bore bullet. We think, but don’t know for sure, that it’s most likely a .22 caliber.”

The victim was treated and released, although the bullet was still in his buttock on Saturday afternoon, Lykken said. Doctors will determine at a later time if and when the slug needs to be removed.

The victim said he doesn’t know who shot him or who might have cause to shoot him, Lykken reported. The incident remains under investigation.