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Crime Technology

New Video Shows Shot Down Drone Hovered For Only 22 Seconds 664

AmiMoJo writes: The saga of the drone shot down in Kentucky got a little bit longer today. A new video from the drone shot down by William Merideth shows that it only hovered over his property for 22 seconds, and was not "peeping". The video shows the drone hovering at altitude and surveying the area before falling out of the sky. Although the video jumps around a little, the drone's owner claims that it was not edited. The shooter says he did not know if the drone was being operated by a paedophile, criminal or ISIS terrorist before he opened fire.
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New Video Shows Shot Down Drone Hovered For Only 22 Seconds

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 10, 2015 @04:25PM (#50288093)

    The shooter says he did not know if the drone was being operated by a paedophile, criminal or ISIS terrorist before he opened fire.

    While Dueling Banjos was playing in the background?

    • by infolation ( 840436 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @04:32PM (#50288155)

      The shooter says he did not know if the drone was being operated by a paedophile, criminal or ISIS terrorist before he opened fire.

      Why is this an either/or situation? Has the shooter never heard of the legendary Criminally Paedophilic ISIS Terrorist?

      • Re:Deliverance? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 10, 2015 @04:41PM (#50288231)

        Why is this an either/or situation? Has the shooter never heard of the legendary Criminally Paedophilic ISIS Terrorist?

        You think you're being funny, but there are actually a lot of those. [torontosun.com]

    • Not in the video. I expected at least a voiceover: "We're hovering over this yard. The homeowner is coming out the back door with his shotgun. Oh, [...]! Game over, man! Game over!"
      • Re:Deliverance? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by countach74 ( 2484150 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @04:48PM (#50288283)
        If this is all information the drone owner has to go with, I want to know how he figured out who shot the drone down? It appeared to be in range of any number of homes. Something doesn't smell right about this.
        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by tbannist ( 230135 )

          If this is all information the drone owner has to go with, I want to know how he figured out who shot the drone down? It appeared to be in range of any number of homes. Something doesn't smell right about this.

          From the original story (and according to the home owner who shot it down), the drone owners drove to where they thought it went down and upon arriving, they were threatened by the home owner. He told them that he shot it down and that he would shoot them too, if they tried to retrieve the drone. So, I think it was kind of obvious that the guy who was pointing a shot gun at them and threatening to kill them was probably responsible.

    • by PPH ( 736903 )

      Nope. This. [youtube.com]

  • Only? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 10, 2015 @04:28PM (#50288117)

    22 seconds is quite a long time to hover over private property. It is legal to shoot firearms in my neighborhood - I would have shot it down too.

    • Re:Only? (Score:5, Informative)

      by bondsbw ( 888959 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @04:35PM (#50288169)

      And, this wasn't the first flight in the area that is within view of the property. FTA:

      During its first flight, the Phantom apparently gave an error message and could not fly past this road without a setting change. So, Boggs brought it home, fixed the settings and swapped its battery—giving time for Merideth to go inside, retrieve his shotgun and wait for the drone to return.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by nofx911 ( 634100 ) *

        I am really curious as to what the error message was and why it would not let him fly further without a settings change. I am guessing it was probably something about when flying in an extended range be sure to respect the privacy of others and local laws. At least if it is like other software warnings.

    • Re:Only? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Mr D from 63 ( 3395377 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @04:50PM (#50288305)

      22 seconds is quite a long time to hover over private property. It is legal to shoot firearms in my neighborhood - I would have shot it down too.

      That is a long time. It certainly is not just a fly over. If I am in my yard and a drone comes and hovers with a camera on me for 20 seconds, I would not be happy.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Even if it is 60m/200ft above you where it would need expensive optics to make you look like more than a blob three pixels high?

        I'm all for privacy when a drone is right in your back yard or outside your window, but realistically there are a lot of aircraft going overhead, right up to satellites with cameras on LEO. Also, drones sometimes stop to get bearings and decide on the next move. I think you need to give them the benefit of the doubt when they are 60m up, or document the incident and see what it doe

        • Re:Only? (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Dashiva Dan ( 1786136 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @08:28PM (#50290149)

          Even if it is 60m/200ft above you where it would need expensive optics to make you look like more than a blob three pixels high?

          I'm all for privacy when a drone is right in your back yard or outside your window, but realistically there are a lot of aircraft going overhead, right up to satellites with cameras on LEO. Also, drones sometimes stop to get bearings and decide on the next move. I think you need to give them the benefit of the doubt when they are 60m up, or document the incident and see what it does before opening fire.

          Seriously?

          You seriously think that it's unlikely for a drone to be able to take a decent quality photo from 200 feet away?

          No, I can't even begin to put together a reply to this level of ignorance.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          Even if it is 60m/200ft above you where it would need expensive optics to make you look like more than a blob three pixels high?

          "I couldn't see anything through her bathroom window, your worship, even though I tried really really hard. Hence, I'm not guilty."

          Being unsuccessful in the execution of a crime does not in any way make you less guilty

          I'm all for privacy when a drone is right in your back yard or outside your window, but realistically there are a lot of aircraft going overhead, right up to satellites with cameras on LEO. Also, drones sometimes stop to get bearings and decide on the next move. I think you need to give them the benefit of the doubt when they are 60m up, or document the incident and see what it does before opening fire.

          If they're within range of birdshot then they're too close. If they're there long enough for you to fetch, unload and reload a gun, then they're there too long.

  • Yeah 22 seconds? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 10, 2015 @04:29PM (#50288129)

    22 seconds? So the shooter was already outside in his own backyard with an appropriately loaded shotgun* just waiting for any old drone he had never seen to come by at random??

    More likely scenario: Sure, on the FINAL FLIGHT over this guy's house the drone operator got 22 seconds. It was the repeated previous flights that almost certainly had to have happened that the drone operators don't want to talk about because it doesn't make them look good.

    * For the ignorati, no self-respecting pro-gun redneck would keep a shotgun for personal protection loaded with #8 or #9 bird shot. If he was so wanting to shoot people as he is made out to be, there would be buckshot or even slugs in that shotgun. Hence, he was able to unload & reload in that 22 seconds... apparently.

    • Re:Yeah 22 seconds? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Penguinisto ( 415985 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @04:40PM (#50288217) Journal

      Actually, this is a very likely scenario.

      I live in a rural area... most folks out here, even the tinfoil crowd, don't walk around with a loaded shotgun everywhere ready to fire on whatever angers them. I'm very willing to wager that the drone operator had done his flights over that property numerous times before - enough to get the property owner to keep a shotgun handy just in case.

      (...and while the property owner very poorly articulated his case judging by the summary, I would have zero problems with taking the thing down, then explaining quite clearly that the little $@#! had been flying that thing over my property repeatedly in spite of warnings, and doing so without permission or even notice.)

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      obviously you have no clue about the rest of the story.

      his daughters saw it flying around the neighborhood, he went and grabbed his gun and WAITED for it to be above his property. and yeah it was above his property for 22 seconds. it was flying for a while before that... your vision isn't limited by your property lines, and it only hovered above his property for 22 seconds but was flying for a while before that. This guy is obviously paranoid... and took a shoot first ask questions later perspective. i'm

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        I wouldn't call him paranoid, the dude just likes shooting at stuff and saw an opportunity.

        Just because you are crazy it doesn't mean that you are paranoid.

      • Re:Yeah 22 seconds? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by TWX ( 665546 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @05:07PM (#50288489)

        This guy [...] took a shoot first ask questions later perspective. i'm sure his neighbors appreciate him shooting into the sky at anything that doesn't look normal. I wonder if he'd shoot a humming bird because it hovers for 20 seconds?

        Please enlighten us how you're supposed to ask questions first of a remote-controlled device.

        I wonder what would happen to the stray bird shot that hit the neighbors house. will he pay for any damages or injuries caused by that?

        That's actually part of the advantage to bird shot, it is slowed down by the drag caused by atmosphere, to the point that the terminal velocity of birdshot is probably low enough to not even leave a mark.

        I do not advocate shooting into the air in populated areas, but bird shot is probably the safest conventional round that one could fire into the air.

        I wonder if a rock-salt load would be enough to take down an RC aircraft?

    • by ColdWetDog ( 752185 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @04:44PM (#50288255) Homepage

      * For the ignorati, no self-respecting pro-gun redneck would keep a shotgun for personal protection loaded with #8 or #9 bird shot. If he was so wanting to shoot people as he is made out to be, there would be buckshot or even slugs in that shotgun. Hence, he was able to unload & reload in that 22 seconds... apparently.

      Not necessarily true. For the discriminating pro-gun redneck, birdshot is a excellent choice. It's likely lethal at close range - where you need it to be - you just can't trust any old pizza delivery guy these days. At longer range it sends a clear signal - don't fuck with me, I'm crazy. Your typical terrorist/pedophile is going to go home and have a couple of unpleasant hours pulling those little pellets out of his ass. And no pesky murder charges.

      And it seems to be just the ticket for the new threat on the block - quadcopters.

      Add some camo and the drone operator will never see you. No, this guy was perfectly attuned to the current threat matrix.

      • Actually no, bird shot is very likely not lethal at close range. Perhaps my memory is fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure it generally lacks enough power to penetrate enough to hit vitals (at least when fired at the chest.. I suspect you could get lucky and hit a major artery, but that's not how people train defensively.) Now, whether or not the gun owner knew that is another question.
        • by MightyMartian ( 840721 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @05:00PM (#50288415) Journal

          John Candy: It's a BB gun.

          Chevy Chase: Don't try me. I could put an eye out with this thing.

          John Candy: You couldn't even break the skin with that thing.

          Chevy Chase: Oh, I could. I could. I could break the skin, put a little lodge under the skin, and cause a very bad infection

        • by TWX ( 665546 )
          Bird shot might make for a good warning round before heavier rounds follow it up if the trespasser doesn't leave.
        • by digsbo ( 1292334 )
          At close range (inside 5 yards), birdshot is quite deadly. [youtube.com]
        • It kinda depends if the shot has had much time to scatter before it hits you. I would imagine minimum distance would be 10 yards to make it less than likely to be lethal, but you would still surely need medical attention and I would not sign up to test this.

          Much under 10 yards though and the wad and shot are still going to be more or less a single unit dispersing a bunch of energy right into your body. The shot pellets may not penetrate deep enough to hit an internal organ, but I would imagine if you did
    • So the shooter was already outside in his own backyard with an appropriately loaded shotgun* just waiting for any old drone he had never seen to come by at random??

      From the article:

      During its first flight, the Phantom apparently gave an error message and could not fly past this road without a setting change. So, Boggs brought it home, fixed the settings and swapped its battery -- giving time for Merideth to go inside, retrieve his shotgun and wait for the drone to return

      ( emphasis mine )

    • by PPH ( 736903 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @05:06PM (#50288481)

      no self-respecting pro-gun redneck would keep a shotgun

      As a self respecting pro-gun redneck, I don't understand the concept of only posessing one shotgun.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      The shooter claims it was the first time the drone came over, so both parties agree on that and there is no reason to doubt that it is true. Maybe other drones had been over before, but that still doesn't excuse shooting this one.

  • by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @04:32PM (#50288151)

    The shooter says he did not know if the drone was being operated by a paedophile, criminal or ISIS terrorist before he opened fire.

    Okay. This was in Kentucky, so I can imagine 2 out of those 3 as possibilities.

    • by robi5 ( 1261542 )

      Why?

      Think before answering this question. Which terrorist action causes bigger fear in the population?

      A) Terrorista takes out the Pentagon / a famous anti-islam politician / a gay Mohammed drawer
      B) Terrorists take out an everyday man with no unique characteristics, just randomly chosen, one of us

      I bet the second choice can instill more fear, because everybody would think, anybody could be next. On 9/11, one initial understanding of the plane that went down in PA was that the target might have been Pittsburg

  • by nickweller ( 4108905 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @04:42PM (#50288233)
    So what, nobody should have the right to fly a spying machine over your house.
    • by Marful ( 861873 )

      So what, nobody should have the right to fly a spying machine over your house.

      I suggest reading up on Privacy Laws and Property Laws (specifically on who owns the airspace over your property). Your assumption, that nobody should have the right to fly a "spying machine" over your house, is incorrect and not supported in our current laws.

    • So what, nobody should have the right to fly a spying machine over your house.

      Meh. Maybe something's wrong with me, but personally I think intent matters. As it happens, nobody does have the right to fly a spying machine over my/your house.

      It's just like my lawn. I mean, yeah, those kids legally better get off my damned law, but I'm a curmudgeon if I yell at them and a psycho if I start breaking their crap because they stepped over the property line. HOWEVER, when the intent is abuse, I'm on your side; if the kids in the area decide it's time to start playing soccer in my yard w

      • How do you judge the intent of a drone flying over your property?

        I see a drone flying over, I take it out. Period. The asshole flying the drone can then present is case to the local judge and explain why I have his drone in my yard.

    • by martas ( 1439879 )
      That's why I RPG'd the fuck out of that air ambulance that flew over my house. I didn't know if there were some pedophiles in there spying on MAH CHILDREN.
  • ... just against bird shot or something. Its going to be annoying for Amazon etc if people are shooting delivery drones down. No one is likely to hit these drones at altitude with anything but bird shot. So if you can make the drone hardened against tiny pellets... they might just be fine.

    • Absolutely. But that will make them cost dramatically more, because any useful armor has significant weight in quadcopter terms.

      A better way might be to build an octocopter with a ring network and redundant autopilots, so that if someone blows off part of your drone, it keeps flying. The more props you've got, the more you can lose without significant compromise to the flight profile.

      • I'm just imagining people shoot down those amazon drones. Maybe if the auto pilots on the drones followed roads rather than just going as the crow flies? Sure, they could still shoot them down but maybe people would be less inclined to shoot if they didn't trespass on their airspace.

        I'm a little disappointed that carbon fiber can't take a bird shot hit at 300 feet.

        • I'm a little disappointed that carbon fiber can't take a bird shot hit at 300 feet.

          Carbon fiber is truly amazing stuff, but when it fails, it tends to fail spectacularly. That's why we are just now moving to Aluminum for mainstream vehicles, while only small production runs are being made from CF. The only non-ultra-performance production automobile to be made mostly out of it is the i3, which is only being produced in small numbers and which doesn't use much CF. It also uses a relatively revolutionary new process. I forget where the break-even point for actually tooling up to stamp metal

          • I've always wondered why we use metal skins on cars at all. Why not use stretched fabric over a metal skeleton?

            Bumps and dings don't happen because the fabric bends. Replacing fabric is cheap. Its way lighter than anything else which was why we used it on early aircraft.

            I think I saw a BMW do a concept car on this concept... here is:
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

            I mean... just do that. You get a rip in the fabric? Its modular... order another sheet of whatever, unclip the ripped cloth, stretch the new st

    • by TWX ( 665546 )
      Or you can fly them either above the 500' floor that commercial aircraft have to remain above, or use the airspace over public property (ie, roads) when making deliveries instead of flying above houses.
    • Or just fly them at 450 feet. Good luck having any stopping power on birdshot 150 yards straight up. And anything that can be destructive at that range is going to be destructive again on its way back down which would make it illegal to fire in the air. Win-win.
      • A reasonable point... though it increases the time to target and uses additional fuel. I would think 200 feet would be high enough that people would just leave it alone.

  • Only 22 seconds (Score:2, Insightful)

    by sgage ( 109086 )

    Only 22 seconds? Like that makes a difference? What is the suggested amount of time to allow a drone to hover over your party and spy? I can't believe this is even an issue. If you fly your drone over my property and hover around, it will be shot out of the sky. What right do you have to spy on your neighbors? None. This is total bullshit, and I can't believe /. is churning it. Except, yes, I can. Because, you know, drones are vaguely techie things. Ooh, shiny!

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @05:14PM (#50288549)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • by ImprovOmega ( 744717 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @05:20PM (#50288629)
    22 seconds to go into the house, get your shotgun, come back out and shoot down the drone? No way. He had the shotgun ready. Which means this isn't the first time Douchey McDronePilot had buzzed this guy's backyard. Ooooh, 22 seconds *this* time. But what about the minutes and hours before that? Hmmm?
  • by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Monday August 10, 2015 @06:07PM (#50289059)

    "The shooter says he did not know if the drone was being operated by a pedophile, criminal or ISIS terrorist before he opened fire."

    So drug dealer was too outlandish a claim? For fuck's sake, of all the possible boogeymen, a friggin' ISIS TERRORIST??? If this bullshit argument gets to stand, I don't even want to know just how fucked up this country and its inhabitants is.

    (for those that don't understand what I am referring to, you might want to read up on the Four horsemen of the infocalypse [wikipedia.org]. Yes, this is not "on the internet", but he really nearly assembled all the straw men used there. Only the drug lord is missing)

  • by SuperDre ( 982372 ) on Tuesday August 11, 2015 @03:56AM (#50291777) Homepage

    Yes, the video might have run for 22 seconds, but that doesn't mean the drone wasn't already over the backyard, and 22 seconds is kinda long.
    To me the owner of the drone should just cut his losses and leave it at that, as IMHO he shouldn't have flown/hoovered over someoneelses property.. Lesson learned the hard way.. Because you own a drone doesn't mean you can do whatever you want whereever you want.. To me the property owner was full in his rights to down the drone (shooting it with a shotgun might not have been the safest way for surrounding people)..

  • by fygment ( 444210 ) on Tuesday August 11, 2015 @05:42AM (#50292027)

    .... a white van with tinted windows so you don't know what's going on inside. Now let's say it does that repeatedly as is certainly the case with the drone.

    What would you do?

    Call the police? Confront the van and its occupants? Shoot at it?

  • by perotbot ( 632237 ) on Tuesday August 11, 2015 @08:47AM (#50292791) Journal
    It took that long? this means this bozo had a loaded gun next to him (around his kids) and was able to pick it up , sight it in , and discharge his firearm (around his kids) rather quickly. Do not fly news helicopters anywhere near this dude. cue: dueling banjos

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