Florida Man in Trouble for Shooting Walmart Drone With 9mm Handgun

Shoot first, pay damages later.

Buzz Off

Lest we forget that losing our minds about suspicious aircraft was an American tradition long before this current spate of drone hysteria, a Florida man has been ordered to pay $5,000 to Walmart after shooting one of the retail giant's drones that he thought was spying on him, First Coast News reports. Spoiler alert: it wasn't.

According to the Lake County Sheriff's Office, the saga played out back in June, when police responded to a call made at a Walmart. There, two employees said that someone had shot one of their drones while they were flying it over a nearby neighborhood as part of a "mock delivery." After the shooting, they fled back to the store, drone casualty in tow.

The marksman turned out to be 72-year-old Dennis Winn. When police showed up at his house, according to an affidavit for his arrest, Winn explained himself. He said he was outside fixing a pool pump when he heard the drone overhead.

Apparently, he "had past experiences with drones flying over his house and believed they were surveilling him," he told police, per First Cost.

So Winn retrieved his 9mm pistol from his gun safe and opened fire on the aerial intruder — as one does in an area where, according to the cops, kids were outside playing.

Pot Shot

Winn was charged with one count of shooting or throwing deadly missiles into dwellings, vessels, or vehicles, one count of criminal mischief causing $1,000 or more in damage and one count of discharging a firearm in public or on residential property.

The cop who broke the news that what he shot wasn't some surveillance apparatus but a Walmart delivery drone said that Winn looked to be "in disbelief."

"Really?" was Winn's reported reply. Seemingly, it was hard to stomach the fact that nefarious characters weren't keenly interested in his pool repairs.

Winn was also informed that the drone probably cost "tens of thousands of dollars." He had never reported the presence of drones over his property to police, but he did inform his Homeowner's Association, he told an officer.

On November 27, Winn agreed to submit a restitution order — an "admission of wrongdoing," his attorney contends, but not a guilty plea. A court ordered him to pay the $5,000 in damages to the drone company, which he's now paid off, according to First Coast.

Winn won't have to serve jail time if he isn't charged with any crimes in the next six months. That puts him in a bind, though. How's he supposed to defend himself if the "Mothership" comes after him now?

More on drones: Dunce-Like Senator Posts Photo of "Drone" That's Actually a TIE Fighter From "Star Wars"