Florida man arrested for shooting delivery drone

‘They say I hit it so I must be a good shot,’ suspect reportedly says

A test flight of a drone delivery from Walmart in El Paso on 17 November, 2020 in El Paso, Texas (Getty Images)

A man in Florida has been arrested after allegedly shooting a gun at a Walmart delivery drone.

Dennis Winn, 72, faces multiple charges after police discovered a bullet hole in the package that the drone was carrying.

Local police claim Mr Winn admitted to shooting at the drone once with a 9mm pistol from his residence in Clermont, just west of Orlando.

“Lake County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint in the Clermont area regarding a Walmart delivery drone being shot,” the police department wrote in a post to Facebook.

“A bullet hole was discovered in the payload the drone was carrying. Witnesses identified the defendant, Dennis Winn, and directed deputies to his residence, the incident location.”

He has been charged with shooting at an aircraft, criminal mischief, and discharging a firearm in public.

In police bodycam footage seen by USA Today, Mr Winn reportedly said that he fired one round at the drone.

“They say I hit it so I must be a good shot, or else it’s not that far away,” he said. “I’m going to wind up having to find a real good defence lawyer.”

The Independent has reached out to Walmart for comment.

The shopping giant has completed over 20,000 drone deliveries since launching it in certain areas of Arizona, Florida and Texas in 2022 through delivery firm DroneUp.

The startup, which also works with fast food restaurants like Chick-fil-A and Wendy’s, is expected to roll out its autonomous service to even more locations over the coming months after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted approval for Beyond Visual Line of Sight deliveries in the US.