On Sunday, I was flying my P4 round the 5 acher field next door ( I have owner's permision ) and someone shot at my drond from a house above and across the street
from this location. I had called Renton Mun Airport and informed them I was up again in my usual place and all was okydoky.
So...I'm just flying over this land and I hear shots fired. There was no doubt in my mind what was happening.  So I bring the drone back and land it and wait.
In about 5 minutes a sheriffs patrol car roll up and I start to soil my pants.
I explaned to the deputy that I was flying legaly and don't know what the reason for the shooting was. He stated that he had contacted the indvidual who called and was probubly
going to charge him with discharging fire arms inside city limits along with some other charges.
He stated that the reason this dude tried to shoot my drone down was that he thought I was one of those crazy dudes flying up into airplanes and he was trying to prevent
a horrable accident of a plane crashing.
I called ATC @ Renton Mun airport and let the deputy speak with the person who took my phone call and he verifyed that I was in complieace and was ok.
With that the deputy asked if I would go with him to A/P and show my flight data with ATC suporvisor.....Sure no prob.
The ATC shift suporvisor was amazed at how good the information on my tablet was and assured the deputy that I was not in violation of any FAA laws.
I took my drone and everything along to the airport with me and spent about an houre there while the crew fondled and stroked my drone and looked at flight data.
None of them had ever seen the complete drone system and thought it was way cool and very hightech.
I'm not sure what problems the shooter is in store for but I'm sure it's going to cost him some time or money to settle this with the sheriff's office.
So...heads up everyone...even if you are flying right,  some dummy with a gun might try and teach you a lesson you don't need to learn.
Also happy to report that so far.....This hasn't made the news,  yet  
I never in a million years thought this would happen to me.  I'm glad I called the ATC at Renton mun to let them know I'm up again (these guys hear from me
a lot so I'm on great terms with ATC )
So if you fly, be sure and contact ATC, make sure you are flying at the proper altitude and wear body armor  

The world is surely full of idiots! Glad his aim was off and you (or your Phantom) did not get a belly full of lead!

Odan,  Thanks for sharing your experience and I am impressed with the way you handled it.  It's pilots like you that shed drones in a good light with law enforcement.  You also incorporate good "tongue -n- cheek" humor and I look forward to your next post.

Update on shooting.
I just got a call from King County Sheriffs office.  Talked to a watch Commander.  He would like me to bring my drone and equipment to precinct and do a show and tell.
He wants to introduce his deputies to commercial type drones and equipment and discuss the difference between toy drones and professional drones.
He said he would hate to arrest some kid playing with an airhog toy or treat someone else wrong.
He's running it by the station commander to see how to do this.
He wants to come up with some sort of  quick reference card to have in squad cars.
Now......I'm no Ernest Hemmingway......and have no idea right now what I'm going to say and show if they have me come in and explain drones.
These guys don't know Line of sight rules max legal altitude weight category's or any thing like that.
They don't know when its a toy like a little X-Prettier or a heavy weight like the Phantoms or Inspirer's etc.  
No super legal advice but a clear understanding of the types...toy.. hobby...commercial etc.
I'll let you guys know if they go ahead with this but if they do.....I'd sure like some help from the forum.
I'll keep everyone posted and maybe we could make guidelines for these dudes that don't require a team of lowers to  agree on.
I never thought my drone would get shot at. You can't imagine how freaked out I was/am about getting shot at like this and the reason this guy had was
the weirdest part.  

I suggest that you try and call it an aircraft or maybe quadcopter rather than Drone, what you say will be taken more seriously.

If your explaining it, keep it simple, or most people listening will have no idea what you are talking about, they may not even know what altitude is!  There is no need for the complexities, although it is good to explain it has collision avoidance with stereo vision and a radar display on the control screen.  Also explain that it is useless for spying in peoples windows unless you fly within a few feet so privacy concerns are unjustified unless misused and show some typical views when flying normally so they understand, and maybe a collection of good photos so they understand why we might want to fly (borrow some off the forum, they don't need to be yours).

I won't comment on the incident, your rules are different to ours, if that happened here then the shooter would certainly be locked up.

"He wants to introduce his deputies to commercial type drones and equipment and discuss the difference between toy drones and professional drones."
The main difference is the way they are used, toy aircraft can be used for professional uses and professional aircraft can be used as toys.  Everyone has a right to use the airspace as long as they follow the rules.
Of course GPS, vision positioning and good telemetry make the Phantom much more controllable and much safer to fly than any $30 drone.

Maybe offer a demonstration and a quick lesson if a suitable safe location can be organised, but make sure that you follow all the rules!

Good work, cover yourself.

I know that for many in the US the answer to any problem is to shoot it. Seriously if he thought that your P4 was a danger to aircraft what were the bullets that he was firing into the same airspace?

Odan:

As with always with serendipity, your quadcopter has laid a Golden Egg.

I don't know your background, but most folks are somewhat petrified at the thought of public speaking. If that is the case with you, and if you proceed (which I hope is the case), then just focus on the bird, the facts and rules around the bird and the FAA regulations. Impressing unknowledgable authorities with your dissemination of any rules that allow them to do their jobs with clarity, that's a good thing, for you, for them, for the wider quadcopter community.

And beyond arming them with rules to wield, you may not only satisfy their curiosities, you might ignite a fire in some, to take up this most ancient craft--flying. We need flying moles within the departments.

(Oh, not convinced it's ancient? How many generations of youths folded paper airplanes? Before paper, parchment? Before that, bands of leaves leaves and bird's feathers? Hey, does skipping rocks count?)

The big five Power Points:

400 vertical feet limit
No flying over people or moving vehicles
5 mile airport notification limit (you can explain NFZs, but most GPS quads won't fly within, so, not an issue for the badges).
FAA registration (this one let's them determine Just Cause really, really easily)
No zoom lenses, so privacy violations are not an issue (as earlier poster suggested, pictures help, but the spoken phrase "NO ZOOM LENS" cuts to the quick).

The idea (I think) is to provide authorities with a set of questions to ask a potential violator:

"Registered with FAA?    How high can you fly?    How close to an airport?    Over people?"

If perp doesn't know these basics, then authorities have a rough guide on what to do next. And the FAA registration question represents a quick full stop, period.

And an earlier poster's suggestion to apply the name quadcopter as opposed to drone is a good one. Helping them differentiate between them warfare contraptions and our beloved, tame (docile, if you will) aircraft is essential to our Extinction Avoidance Systems.

I'll chime in later if I think of anything else.

Glad you and bird are unharmed, but do be prepared for a bit of local celebrity. Enjoy the moment.

Keep Smiling,

Augustus

I bet something the person who shot at your Phantom didn't even think about if he hit it and it went out of control and hit someone he would be responsible for any damage he did.

Tonyray955 Posted at 2017-2-13 17:58
I bet something the person who shot at your Phantom didn't even think about if he hit it and it went out of control and hit someone he would be responsible for any damage he did.

He was a lone protector of people's safety. It was him standing between order a chaos. He had to act to stop the public menace. It is lucky he had a gun to fight back against these air terrorists. What is a little collateral damage when lofty ideals are at stake.

Well the first thing I herd the deputy ask was do you know where your bullets went ?  Turns out it was a special mad air gun. over 3500psi with a muzzle velo of over 3500 fps/
I could hear the 30cal projectile break sound barrier.
Still a high power firearm according to deputy's.  I had to fly wings of prey for 3 hrs to get this out of my system.
I mead look at me....picture in avatar is me.. I'm an old harry geezer...
What I discussed with Sheriffs office is a show and tell. They want to see my toy X-Predator, My phantom and three of my Heli's. (450=my gasser)
Any guides for hobby flyers,  any information on commercial flyers. That includes fixed wing SUA's as well.
Info in 107 exemption and maybe something that defines commercial use.... and anything about flying toys under the 8oz weight level.
We're not discussing how to interpret all the laws.
They just need to know how to respond to a call.  Weather, and how trespassing laws  are violated by RC aircraft.  
They are not sure what the laws are about drone registration and who need to be registered. stuff like that.
I'll for sure bring in the stay under and line of sight info that I have as well.
I'll know a lot more after I go in and meet with Commander and get a better idea how I can help familiarize  them with UAS systems.
I have to admit that when I knew that the sheriff would arrive I stashed my Phantom and put my X-Prettier on my porch. I wasn't sure how this would play out
even though I was careful to do everything as right as I could. But once it was cool I showed  the deputy my Phantom  
I'm no angle you know....
Any how it is getting kinda cool now.  These cops really are sincere about learning more about UAS's in all there forms.
I'm glad I had time to lurk and read this forum before I even got my Phantom and thanks to all of you guy's and gal's I was more aware then ever what rules
there are for this hobby.  
I have to admit, I didn't always fly my  helicopters as safely as I could. I have been inspired to fly my drone much differently  by this forum and some of the news events of late.
I just can't afford a $200,000 fine.
any how that's where it at as of now.
very scary stuff for an old Gez like me  

Odan Posted at 2017-2-13 18:41
Well the first thing I herd the deputy ask was do you know where your bullets went ?  Turns out it was a special mad air gun. over 3500psi with a muzzle velo of over 3500 fps/
I could hear the 30cal projectile break sound barrier.
Still a high power firearm according to deputy's.  I had to fly wings of prey for 3 hrs to get this out of my system.

Odan - kudos for a job well done.  You stayed cool, showed the policeman proper respect, and just did everything right. Your story should serve as a model on how to conduct ourselves should we be in a similar situation.

Local police and sheriff have come over to see me fly my P3S ... not to inquire about the legality of flying it, but they wanted to see one close up and politely inquired about "the rules."  They were fascinated.  Who wouldn't be watching a Phantom in flight?  They wanted one for themselves.  So don't always assume an approaching policeman is there to give you a hard time.  Just curious like most others.

I also suspect the reason the police asked for any guides for hobby flyers or other UAV information is so they could turn it over to the local District Attorney's office.  After all, discharging a firearm in public, not knowing where the bullets will land, is a far more serious crime than flying your hobby drone legally.  They may also have a history with this fella. He may be paying dearly soon for his behavior!

Thanks for sharing your story and glad your proper behavior allowed everything to come out right - at least on your end.  Happy flying from one old geezer to another.

Nice job, Odan.

Odan Posted at 2017-2-13 18:41
Well the first thing I herd the deputy ask was do you know where your bullets went ?  Turns out it was a special mad air gun. over 3500psi with a muzzle velo of over 3500 fps/
I could hear the 30cal projectile break sound barrier.
Still a high power firearm according to deputy's.  I had to fly wings of prey for 3 hrs to get this out of my system.

Aloha Odan,

     Great job, Mahalo!  The only bit that I think you will have a problem finding is the FAA privacy question.  It is still a question, as in not final.  But they do have a "Best Practices" document out.  It is attached on two forms.  One is a one page summary and the longer one is the full draft.  These are not regulations, but they are working on it.

     Keep up the good work!

Aloha and Drone On!

You could point out to them that some Police forces use drones to assist in their work, eg using thermal cameras to search for missing persons.  
I see our police drone squad has just tweeted a rather worrying warning:

"D&C Police Drones ‏@DC_PoliceDrones  · Feb 11  
SAFETY WARNING: If you're flying a @DJIGlobal Inspire 2 I've read reports online of them shutting down mid-flight due to the batteries
doing an upgrade & forcing it to restart, meaning it falls out of the sky. Please do some research before flying."
https://twitter.com/dc_policedrones?lang=en

Kudos, Job well done.

Thanks for the PDF's from the Islands,  The one problem that law enforcement has as I was told is.....Can local law enforcement issue ticket
or do they have to get FAA involved.
There is a problem weather local police can do anything or do they call FAA nd get them to issue a violation  ??
Law enforcement as of now don't really have a numerical code for FAA violations.  This makes it hard to react in any form at all.
Things like reckless endangerment, Assault with a deadly weapon. trespassing  are options they have now but it's not clear to them weather
they can infringe on FAA's turf.
I plan on taking the FLYING SAFELY card that came with my Phantom 4.  So if a Moderator is reading this I have a question...
Is it alright to give them this item. It has DJI's logo on it and I would like to give this to the sheriff's but I'm not sure that DJI
wants to have themselves connected to this effort in that way.  So maybe if I get permission to give them this hand out DJI will be cool with that.
If not I'll just make some copies of that with the endorsements blanked out.
Personally I think it shows a company that tries to encourage safety and responsible flying .
Or is this even an issue with DJI ?
thanks.....Oh-Dan    
But I think it would be nice for DJI to get their name dropped in a positive way.
So.....I giving this hand out to Sheriff Ok with DJI...

It's YOUR Drone and YOUR safety card.  I think in the interests of safety sharing the information with authorities would only be a good thing.

I'd ask the AMA for legal help on this.  The police might want to get up on Community Based Organization rules that the FAA has deferred to the AMA for hobbyists.  I think the AMA has their own legal team that updates the police on.  A 107 violation they could hand off to the FAA, but the hobbyists is something the AMA may be more familiar with.

Odan Posted at 2017-2-13 11:59
Update on shooting.
I just got a call from King County Sheriffs office.  Talked to a watch Commander.  He would like me to bring my drone and equipment to precinct and do a show and tell.
He wants to introduce his deputies to commercial type drones and equipment and discuss the difference between toy drones and professional drones.

Hi Odan. A relevant story for us all, with a great outcome. Most police are committed to their role in the community and it's fantastic when they reach out to understand something which is emerging more and more now.

Anyway, apart from all of the other suggestions of what the officers may need to know, I believe a key feature for them to be aware of is the Phantom/Inspire's obstacle avoidance. It works as much to reduce the likelihood of physical harm to someone, as it does to avoid trees and walls. One of my favourite party tricks is to have my P4/P4P fly towards me (umm, not fast) and stop once it detects I'm in the way - despite me pushing the stick forwards.

Of course, assuming you have a P4...

It's good to hear all went well! You did a great job keeping your composure during the ordeal.

just crazy,