WTF?! Companies like Amazon have spent years trying to get their drone delivery programs off the ground. Today, several drone delivery firms are operating in a number of states, and that's exposed a problem not everyone foresaw: people shooting the drones. In Florida, a 72-year-old man has been arrested after admitting he shot a Walmart delivery drone.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office said drone delivery representatives reported the incident. A two-man crew was campaigning in a nearby community, writes Fox 35 Orlando, which included mock deliveries to illustrate the drones' capabilities, to attract potential business.
Deputies say that the crew stood in front of a home located in a cul-de-sac, awaiting the drone's descent. As it began to descend, a rep said he heard what sounded like a gunshot. The rep saw a man at the side of the home holding a gun pointed toward the sky.
The crew returned to Walmart and directed the drone to fly back to the store. Upon inspection, the reps discovered a bullet hole and $2,500 worth of damage to its payload system.
Deputies returned to the home to interview 72-year-old Dennis Winn. He told officers that he had prior experience with drones and believed that the UAV was surveilling him. Winn said he tried to shoo the drone away. When this didn't work, he went inside the home to retrieve his 9mm gun from a safe, came back out, and shot the drone, which was about 75 feet in the air at the time.
"I then told him that he had struck a Walmart drone," the Sherriff's deputy said. "The defendant looked in disbelief and questioned, 'Really?'"
"I fired one round at it," Winn said in bodycam footage. "They say I hit it so I must be a good shot, or else it's not that far away [...] I'm going to wind up having to find a real good defense lawyer."
Winn was charged with shooting at an aircraft, criminal mischief damage over $1,000, and discharging a firearm in public or residential property.
Business Insider notes that the FAA doesn't distinguish between a drone and a passenger jet when it comes to attempts to sabotage a commercial aircraft. It means that shooting a drone is classed as a felony and could see perpetrators fined and sent to prison for up to 20 years.
Walmart says it has completed more than 20,000 safe drone deliveries over the last two years, and that it is expanding its drone delivery program for up to 75% of the Dallas-Fort Worth population, covering an additional 1.8 million homes.
In other recent drone news, more police forces are considering using the UAVs in first responder (DFR) programs, in which they are sent to 911 calls ahead of officers to assess a situation. Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation warns that while this may sound good in practice, the programs can be used for privacy-invading surveillance and over-policing.