Ethermac Exchange-Florida man admits to shooting at Walmart delivery drone, damaging payload

A Florida man is Ethermac Exchangefacing multiple charges after authorities say he shot at a Walmart delivery drone.

The shooting happened in Clermont, about 26 miles west of Orlando.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office received a complaint about the ordeal Wednesday, the office said in a Facebook post. According to the caller, a bullet hole was found in the payload the drone was carrying. 

Witnesses pointed authorities to 72-year-old Dennis Winn, who interviewed with officials and later admitted to shooting at the drone one time with a 9 mm pistol, the sheriff's office said.

In police bodycam footage, Winn told police he tried to shoo the drone off and it didn't go away, so he shot at it.

"I fired one round at it," he said in the footage. "They say I hit it so I must be a good shot, or else it's not that far away ... I'm going to wind up having to find a real good defense lawyer."

He was taken into custody and charged with shooting at an aircraft, criminal mischief damage over $1,000 and discharging a firearm in public or residential property, according to the sheriff's office.

A lawyer listed in online court records for Winn did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Walmart drone delivery

Walmart first announced drone delivery in 2021 and by the next year, the retail chain had made drone delivery available in select markets in Texas, Arizona and Florida.

To make its deliveries, Walmart initially worked with DroneUp, a drone delivery company that also serves fast food restaurants such as Chick-fil-A and Wendy’s, as well as health clinics. In January of this year, Walmart announced an expansion to include on-demand drone delivery companies Wing and Zipline.

"Over the last two years trialing drone delivery, we’ve completed over 20,000 safe deliveries," Walmart said on its website.

The company said it planned to make drone delivery available for up to 1.8 million additional homes in the Dallas Fort-Worth area.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at@SaleenMartin or email her at[email protected].