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The drone had been watching him on his private property, 72-year-old Dennis Winn told police. So, he shot it. Walmart executives were afraid something like this would happen, sooner or later. The resident of Clermont, Florida, admitted the whole thing to police on June 26. The retailer estimates thousands of dollars in damage to their high-tech delivery robot.
Drone made him edgy
That drone shouldn’t have been watching him like that, Dennis Winn declared. Sure he shot at it. He’d do it again if one bothers him the same way in the future. Florida residents love using their second amendment firearm rights to protect their fourth amendment rights to privacy.
As he learned in the booking process, shooting at delivery drones isn’t protected by the Constitution.
A two man crew was operating the drone on the day in question. They were indeed operating “over his Lake County home,” the Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
NEWS: Florida man arrested after shooting at Walmart delivery drone that was allegedly flying over his house in Clermont.
According to company reps the drone sustained $2,500 worth of damage to its payload system.
72-year-old Dennis Winn was arrested and charged with shooting… pic.twitter.com/ydNCt6H8h7
— PPV_TAHOE (@ppv_tahoe) July 4, 2024
Walmart officials explain that “the flights were part of a local campaign that featured mock deliveries to attract business and interest in the area, which is about 25 miles west of Orlando.” They attracted interest, alright. “As the crew piloted the craft back towards the ground, one of the reps heard a gunshot.”
They didn’t notice the bullet hole until they had the drone back at the store. That’s when they discovered “$2,500 worth of damage to the payload system” from the 9mm bullet.
Sheriff’s deputies went to the house and Winn took full responsibility. He believed he had good reason to fire at the offending aerial intruder.
Tried to shoo it off
The drone didn’t just harmlessly flit by overhead on the way to business elsewhere, it hovered over his property and zig-zagged around. He was convinced “its operators were watching him because he tried to shoo it off — but it didn’t go away.”
That’s when he decided to escalate the encounter. “I fired one round at it.”
Police bodycam footage is going viral on social media. “They say I hit it, so I must be a good shot, or else it’s not that far away.” He has a point there.
Hey @KenPaxtonTX lots of Texans will be skeet experts soon with @Google wing drones! No one wants GOOGLE eyes in the sky! https://t.co/HoIbMmFcuf
— Chaos Coordinator (@idontexistTore) July 4, 2024
Even though the drone was unmanned, Mr. Winn could see he was in a jam with the law. “I’m going to wind up having to find a real good defense lawyer,” he added.
Police arrested him without incident. Firing a handgun at a commercial drone is classified as “shooting at an aircraft.”
For good measure, they also listed “criminal mischief damage over $1,000 and firing a gun in public” as charges on his arrest report. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens once he gets his lawyer. We’ll keep you posted on anything that develops.
