VIDEO: Pilot Threatens to Crash into Mississippi Walmart, Authorities Say

A small airplane circles over Tupelo, Miss., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. Police say the pi
Rachel McWilliams via AP
Amy Furr

A plane circled early Saturday over Tupelo, Mississippi, and the pilot threatened to crash into a Walmart, Fox 29 reported.

In a press release on its Facebook page, the Tupelo Police Department (TPD) said it was alerted at approximately 5:00 a.m. the pilot of an aircraft, possibly a King Air, was in the sky over Tupelo.

“The pilot has made contact with E911 and is threatening to intentionally crash into Wal Mart on West Main,” the department explained:

Update 09-03-2022 @ approximately 08:35 am the plane is reported to be airborne north of Tupelo in the Benton, Union…

Posted by Tupelo Police Department on Saturday, September 3, 2022

“TPD has worked with Wal-Mart West and Dodges on West Main to evacuate the stores and disperse people as much as practical. TPD also has been able to begin talking with the pilot directly,” the agency continued.

In an update at approximately 8:30 a.m., Tupelo police said, “The plane is reported to be airborne north of Tupelo in the Benton, Union County Area. Local, State and Federal Authorities are continuing to monitor this dangerous situation.”

Video footage taken from a neighborhood street showed the low-flying plane circling over homes in the area before moving out of sight:

Law enforcement said the situation was ongoing with agency officials and Emergency Services staying abreast of developments.

Authorities urged citizens to avoid the area until they received an all-clear.

“With the mobility of an airplane of that type the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo,” the police department stated, adding, “More information will be released when appropriate.”

Additional video footage recorded from directly underneath the plane caught the moment the aircraft flew overhead:

In a social media post Saturday morning, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves told followers authorities were tracking the situation:

“All citizens should be on alert and aware of updates from the Tupelo Police Department,” he concluded.

Gov. Reeves’ post also included what appeared to be an image of the plane’s flight path in green with the aircraft seen in the upper left portion.

Update: Officials said the plane had landed safely, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced in a social media post just after 10:30 a.m. the plane was down.

“Thankful the situation has been resolved and that no one was injured. Thank you most of all to local, state, and federal law enforcement who managed this situation with extreme professionalism,” he wrote.

The plane was reportedly stolen and officials were trying to determine if the pilot was employed by a local airport.

The pilot was reportedly taken into custody after landing in a field in Tippah County, according to NBC Washington producer Michael Pegram.

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