Shooter Said The Aircraft Was Over His Property When He Pulled The Trigger

A homeowner in Norfork, Arkansas shot down a UAV he said was flying over his property while his kids were playing outside.

The homeowner is Stephen Loosey, 28. The Baxter County Sheriff was called by someone reporting shots fired into the air on March 26th. The Baxter Bulletin reports that Deputy Craig Gates responded to that call, and talked with the drone operator, 49-year-old David Rorie Rains of Mountain Home, AR. Raines said he had received permission from a nearby restaurant to fly the UAV around the business, and then he flew it down to a nearby lake to take a photograph. On the return trip from the lake, Rains said he was hovering the aircraft near some powerlines when it was shot down.

Loosey told both Deputy Gates and Rains that he had shot down the drone because it was hovering over a trampoline in his backyard on which his kids were playing. He said they had seen it flying in from the lake, and when it hovered over his yard. He said

It has still not been determined exactly where the UAV was flying when Loosey opened fire. Arkansas does have a video voyeurism law that induces a prohibition   against the use of UAVs.

In this case, however, no criminal charges were filed against the drone operator or the shooter. An investigator who reviewed the deputy's report recommended that it be handled as a civil matter.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.baxtercountysheriff.com