Mystery as inflatable Santa gunned downed in suspected drive-by shooting

Family’s holiday cheer was suddenly deflated when they found their giant Santa inflatable flat on the ground with an apparent bullet hole in it

A Kentucky resident is furious after his inflatable Santa decoration was downed in an apparent drive-by shooting.

Donald Nelson had just finished putting up Christmasdecorations outside his family home in Lexington days earlier –including a brand new $200 giant inflatable Father Christmas for the front yard.

Yet the family’s holiday cheer was suddenly deflated when they found the inflatable flat on the ground one evening with a large hole in it, WLEX reported.

Mr Nelson told the outlet that he and his wife had been sitting on the couch at around 8.15pm, when they heard a “small bang” outside.

When he went outside to investigate, he found saw his new Santa lying on the ground.

At first, he thought nothing of it until he looked at his home security camera and saw what appeared to be the moment the inflatable was shot at by someone in the car.

The camera footage, obtained by WLEX,shows the car turning around while the sound of a firearm rings out.

Seconds later, the Santa falls back and starts to deflate.

Mr Nelson’s security footage captured the moment Santa was supposedly shot (WLEX)

On closer inspection, the inflatable was found to have a large 18-inch bullet hole in it.

Luckily, Mr Nelson said he has some friendly neighbours who will sew Santa up again so he can return to his position in the front yard – but he said he fears that the apparent shootings could happen again.

“There are multiple neighbours that have inflatables too, and I mean certainly they could be targeted as well,” he told the outlet.

Santa after he was supposedly shot down (WLEX)

“If they’ve done just one, they’ll probably do several.”

If it does happen again, he hopes his neighbours can catch the licence plate of the vehicle to track down the culprits.

While luckily no one was hurt – apart from the inflatable Santa – in the incident, Mr Nelson said the situation was no laughing matter.

At the end of the day, those people were “discharging a firearm at someone’s home,” which could have more dangerous consequences, he said.