Ajdrew is at it again!
William Merideth, drone shooter. WDRB-TV screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET
We need to talk anti-aircraft weaponry.
More and more so-called enthusiasts are sending drones into the sky. This means that more and more normal humans are becoming enthusiastic about shooting them out of the sky.
Especially, as in the case of William H. Merideth, the drone is hovering over your house.
Merideth, 47, lives in Hillview, Kentucky.
As WDRB-TV reports, a neighbor heard gunshots and called the police. Merideth allegedly told the police that a drone was hovering over his house, where his teen daughter (he has two) was sunbathing. So he pulled out his gun and gave it a merry death.
The drone's owner, police say, said he was flying it to take pictures of a neighboring house.
However, Merideth told WRDB: "Well, I came out and it was down by the neighbor's house, about 10 feet off the ground, looking under their canopy that they've got under their back yard. I went and got my shotgun and I said, 'I'm not going to do anything unless it's directly over my property.'"
And then it allegedly was.
Merideth explained: "I didn't shoot across the road, I didn't shoot across my neighbor's fences, I shot directly into the air."
He says that shortly after the shooting, he received a visit from four men who claimed to be responsible for the drone and explaining that it cost $1,800.
Merideth says he stood his ground: "I had my 40 mm Glock on me and they started toward me and I told them, 'If you cross my sidewalk, there's gonna be another shooting.'"
There appears not to have been another shooting. However, Merideth was arrested for wanton endangerment and criminal mischief. There is, apparently, a local ordinance that says you can't shoot a gun off in the city, but the police charged him under a Kentucky Revised Statute.
I have contacted both the Hillview Police Department and the FAA to ask for their view on proceedings. I will update, should I hear.
The FAA's recommendations include not flying above 400 feet and "Don't fly near people or stadiums." The FAA adds: "You could be fined for endangering people or other aircraft."
For his part, Merideth says he will sue the drone's owners. He told WRDB: "You know, when you're in your own property, within a six-foot privacy fence, you have the expectation of privacy. We don't know if he was looking at the girls. We don't know if he was looking for something to steal. To me, it was the same as trespassing."
It is, indeed, hard to know whether things that buzz in the sky have positive or negative intentions. Amateur drones
disrupted efforts to fight recent California wildfires to such a degree that there's now
a $75,000 reward for anyone who identifies those responsible. A Southern California lawmaker has created a bill
that would make it legal for the authorities to shoot these drones out of the sky.
On the other hand, medical researchers are wondering if drones could be very useful
in being able to quickly transport vital medical supplies.
It's not hard to have some sympathy with Merideth, if not with his draconian methods of sanction.
This case echoes one from last year when a New Jersey man
allegedly took a hovering drone out with a bullet.
But this sort of incident will only get more complicated as companies such as Amazon begin to fly drones that deliver underwear and nail clippers.
Drones aren't supposed to fly over buildings. Surely Amazon's flying machines won't be able to avoid such an event.
Please imagine your neighborhood airspace suddenly full of undergarments, toys, books and other coveted items floating through the air after the drone carrying them was shot down.
Every day will feel like Christmas.
