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According to the report, Hindi told the responding deputy the group's remote-controlled aircraft "was hovering over U.S. 601 when he heard a shot come from the wood line. The shot sounded to him that it was of small caliber."
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That's your complainant talking. I've been a cop for a lot of years and I know better than to take a complainant's statement at face value, especially if it is self-serving.
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Originally Posted by buck460XVR
It is also illegal to damage private property that is not on your property without the owners permission. On top of that, since the witness said it sounded like small arms fire, it was unsafe to shoot into the air with solid projectiles
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Except for the complainant's statement, we don't know where the toy was flying when it was shot. For that matter, we don't even know that it was shot. A more compelling argument is that the anti-gunner was flying his toy, was startled at the sound of gunfire and crashed the helicopter. It may have been over the highway, it might not have been over the highway. And, a 12 gauge shotgun is definitely a small-arm. It's perfectly acceptable to shoot a shotgun into the sky. That's what it is designed for.
Were I the plantation owner, I wouldn't admit anything. Make 'em prove it all. My position would be that I and a number of friends were enjoying a little perfectly legal target shooting. "Helicopter? What helicopter?"
You'll notice that the article didn't take a statement from the plantation owner. Simply, he and his guests were enjoying a pleasant afternoon and have no knowledge of a camera-drone-toy-thing.