Shot down and missing

[Dan jolliff]

Was flying in a Open field at the corner of sw32 street here in Oklahoma City on the 9400 block and hear Large fireworks going off on my return to home
Fly over a deserted house across the street hoping to see what the big bangs going off like fire crackers and my drone drops out of site and goes dead. I feel some thing like plastic sting my face. I walk around the block and see about 8 neighbors out side and nobody knows nothing
But I'm told it was not firecrackers but a 20 gauge shot gun and I better just leave it alone

Call cops they do nothing. Neighbors a block over want talk. And I'm missing a 800 drone
And really the cops could care less that someone is shooting a shotgun in town.
I call them back an hour ago and tell the clerk I have the location maked and no one will call me back. We could see in the back yard where it went down as it shows perfect on the return to home on the app but I could not see anything looking over the side fence
I starting to feel like calling big city cops is a waste of time shotguns going, off 800 of property distroyed and they really could care less wish I could get the memory card. Does anyone know how to get anything like video off the controller ? I do not run the video while close to homes as I would not want to record anything. Really could care less about the one or two home I fly by its the ponds and the fields I used to enjoy visiting with out having to walk be hind people's house to get to them.

 

[Fourman]

You have it reg with FAA? Would this now be more a Federal issue of shooting an airplane out of the sky?

 

[Moose]

I'd get a lawyer ASAP. Is it possible to look at your flight logs to see your altitude and flight path?
The more crazy people that get away with this the more it will happen. Before you know it, people will tell stories to their buddies about shooting down a scary drone and watching the cops do nothing.
I'd imagine if you go through the right avenues with a lawyer you could get compensated for the money you are out, and maybe the cops will change their processes if it was documented that they came and did nothing. If I was a neighbor in the area, I'd be pissed if someone was shooting a gun like that, regardless of what my feelings on drones may be.
That is absolutely ridiculous. I hope this gets worked out.

 

[BigAl07]

I'm pretty sure I'd be getting some legal advice ASAP and make sure you get to the top of the ladder at the local PD or SD.

In terms of video if you weren't recording there is nothing to recover that would show the actual incident. On a side note if some shot from a 20ga had hit your face I'm confident you wouldn't have thought it was plastic. It carries a lot of momentum till impact.

 

[Fat Daddy]

Without a suspect, there's not much a lawyer or cop can do. If it fell in a random back yard and you don't know which, cops can't just search.

If your neighbors won't tell you where the gun shots came from, they sure aren't going to tell the cops.

Really bad situation. Sorry to hear about it. Glad you're okay though.

Just curious how high you were.

 

[Sagebrush]

How high were you above the house? The max range on that shotgun is going to be about forty yards or 120'.

"I feel some thing like plastic sting my face." What's your theory on that?

SB

 

[Dan jolliff]

In the field I was Flying at 100-120 feet, except to enter the Field and leave it at 30 mpg is all their in the field. ( airport 5.2 miles away so I try to keep it reasonable and to not hit the high lines that run behind the houses and the field if I ever use return to home.
I have not been able to get the drone Back as the yard it fell into no one was home, But on thinking it out
seems it was hit once or twice in the field as I lost temp contact with it and later noticed the gimbo had limited movement.
A minute later it lost contact at a range it is normally at 5 bars and I hit return to home, it started coming back and I was able at 2-3 blocks from home to take it back over.
It hovered over my house for a few moments and everything seemed to be okay and I kept hearing the fire crackers ( I thought) so I headed it across the street to look at the next street ( house across the street is vacant) about 150 feet at I guess 75-100 high as was way over the houses that are 35 feet tall to see what was so loud. it started acting funny so I hit return to home
it then went blank, I had hear 6-10 what was later called shotgun shots while I has in the air flight time was about 7 minutes

Note the House it shows I fly over to get to the field everyone that lives their likes it and wants one too they have never been bothered with me buzzing the field
Normally I am even farther out but the GPS photo does not show a new roast that has started behind the houses. No Problems with anyone on my street asn the all know I have it.

I was looking at the progress on the road, as at some time this will be houses also.. darn
Normally I stay out another 50-100 yards minimum


being 58 with a teen age daughter I would never buzz yards or take photos of others stuff!
.

 

[Dan jolliff]

Being very versed with shotguns and Bird shot and having been hit with it at 100-200 yards will hunting it did feel a little light
likely parts of the drone blown over really I think it was shot after it hit the house. pickup and roof and came back down on me.
Fireworks can feel much the same way.

 

[Dan jolliff]

How high were you above the house? The max range on that shotgun is going to be about forty yards or 120'.

"I feel some thing like plastic sting my face." What's your theory on that?

SB

I have taken game at 60 yards it all about the Pellet size, gun type and if you get lucky

 

[Wolfiesden]

I'm pretty sure I'd be getting some legal advice ASAP and make sure you get to the top of the ladder at the local PD or SD.

In terms of video if you weren't recording there is nothing to recover that would show the actual incident. On a side note if some shot from a 20ga had hit your face I'm confident you wouldn't have thought it was plastic. It carries a lot of momentum till impact.

Not entirely true. If they were shooting up (at the drone) the pellets that hit him were falling at terminal velocity and are not lethal at all and it doesn't sting. I have first hand knowledge of that. Propelled horizontally by the gun, well thats a different story and lethality is proportional to the distance from the muzzle. Also what he could have been hit by could have been plastic. Chips from the wad, the phantom or its blades.

 

[BigAl07]

Not entirely true. If they were shooting up (at the drone) the pellets that hit him were falling at terminal velocity and are not lethal at all and it doesn't sting. I have first hand knowledge of that. Propelled horizontally by the gun, well thats a different story and lethality is proportional to the distance from the muzzle. Also what he could have been hit by could have been plastic. Chips from the wad, the phantom or its blades.

Point taken. Lot of maybe this and possible that so I guess it's all just a guess but I do have to agree with your statement.

 

[Wolfiesden]

Yep, given a void of facts, we are all just guessing

But I have been hit by falling shot in the past. Its unnerving but not at all painful (unless you are close I suppose and the OP's descriptions didn't make it sound as though he was). In fact the only reason I knew what it was that had hit me was a few pellets were caught in my hair and I saw what it was when I brushed my hand through to feel and picked one out.

 

[Fat Daddy]

Did you leave a note for the property owners? I mean at the location you believe it fell.

 

[Christoph559]

Have you uploaded any data to healthy drones.com yet? If you were recording at that time you could pull the video from your phone

 

[thunderbird]

Sorry for your loss
but if someone intentionally shot it I doubt you will ever find it as they might have taken it

 

[FASTFJR]

 

[Dan jolliff]

Did you leave a note for the property owners? I mean at the location you believe it fell.

Call police again to day and they came out and searched the yard that the app shows it went done in and nothing was their . The same help full neighbors mention earlier had said they saw it go down in the yard next to their house

Case is noted with okc police. They have assigned it to detectives and are calling it a larceny know which is generally a felon and if I can get some to rat the shooter. They will loose their guns and likley their job

I was told if the detectives could not find anything it would be turned over to the Feds. Yes it was licensed

Wait till one of these yahoos shot down a bird owned by Amazon or the cops. It's just a few years and the sky's are going to get full of them

I will call the police again Monday
To check on Progress do forgive me for lassing at them last night. I am not a good victim. I was to the point of doing ugly stuff
Police offered the point that the shooter likley got it last night and got rid of it Sham I could not get a response from police again last night
It might have been their

Thanks for everyone's encouragement looks like I will looking for another drone and fly a lot higher and run the video all the time
When I do

I do have a older one I could risk for now

 

[Zuzua]

Make sure you have the video cache enabled, so that if something else was ever to happen , you then would have it cached on your device.
Good luck, don't let this go, keep on at it with the feds if you have to. Shooting down any aircraft ( and drones are classified as aircraft) is a federal offense! Offer a reward for any information leading to an arrest!!

 

[Dan jolliff]

Make sure you have the video cache enabled, so that if something else was ever to happen , you then would have it cached on your device.
Good luck, don't let this go, keep on at it with the feds if you have to. Shooting down any aircraft ( and drones are classified as aircraft) is a federal offense! Offer a reward for any information leading to an arrest!!

The recording was not turned on in the drone. I use a android tablet Nunez I believe just for the drone
As a viewer. I do not think it caches live video. Do you know that they do?

I have not turned it off and I recharged the controller and left everything on and charging. But they have both shut down.

 

[Moose]

If you were not recording, you won't be able to load video.

Have you uploaded any data to healthy drones.com yet?

^ This.

Also, it seems like the support of the neighbors who are friendly with you could go a long way. People talk.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app