Man Shoots Down Drone Flying Over His House

Merideth of Hillview was arrested Sunday night after taking a shotgun and shooting a drone out of the sky above his home.

The charters states that drones fitted with cameras should not be flown within 50m of people, vehicles, buildings or structures. The man grabbed his shotgun and waited to see if the drone would fly over his backyard property.

“I had my 40 mm [sic] Glock on me and they started toward me and I told them, ‘If you cross my sidewalk, there’s gonna be another shooting, ‘” Mr. Merideth told the station.

In an interview with our media partner, 840 WHAS Radio, David John Boggs identified himself as the owner of the drone which was shot down July 26 in Hillview. Then the drone flew over Merideth’s backyard. But in that case, the drone operator was flying his drone over his parents’ farm, and it was shot down by a neighbor. “We don’t know if he was looking at the girls”.

“I wanted to see if it was going to stay there and it did and I reacted”, Merideth said. “It’s an invasion of privacy”, he added. “As Americans, we have a right to defend our rights and property”.

So are there rules for drones?

Merideth said “four guys” showed up moments later and allegedly called him an “S.O.B.” and asked if he was the one who shot down the drone. He said, “It was hovering over top of my property, and I shot it out of the sky”. A Hillview ordinance prohibits people from discharging a firearm within city limits, unless the action is in self-defense.

Merideth claims that he only used “Number 8 birdshot”, which he says wouldn’t come down with enough force to cause injury, should anyone have strayed into the firing line. We don’t know if he was looking for something to steal.

“I think it is mad, for the charges”, Diebold said. ‘If he had been moving and just kept moving, that would have been one thing – but when he come directly over our heads, and just hovered there, I felt like I had the right.’. Merideth is considering legal action against the owners of the drone. He is due back in court in September.

According to the police, the drone was worth $1,800, and the owners were rather peeved at having their expensive hardware shot out of the sky.