Tupelo Plane Incident: Pilot Threatened to Crash Into Walmart Store—Police

Police in Mississippi have arrested and charged a man with grand larceny and making terroristic threats, after he threatened to crash a small plane into a Walmart.

Police identified the man as Cory Patterson, who said he stole a fully fueled Beachcraft King Air C90 twin engine plane and took off early in the morning, around 5 a.m., on Saturday. Social media users later shared video of the plane flying erratically over Tupelo on Saturday morning.

"Not sure what's going on, but this plane has been flying in circles for 45 minutes around Tupelo," Twitter user @Nickfivecents said.

Meanwhile, another user @RachelMcWilli14 tweeted: "He circled over my clinic multiple times! Very scary."

Meteorologist Zach Holder tweeted a flight path of the plane, which showed how much it had changed direction, adding, "You can't track him anymore but here's what his flying looked like. Scary situation to wake up to."

After circling for hours the plane reportedly landed in a nearby field, with Patterson being into custody. There were no reports of injuries.

Just before 8 a.m. local time, Tupelo police said that the pilot had called 911 and threatened to crash it intentionally into the Walmart located on West Main street.

Police said that the Walmart and the Dodge store next to it had been evacuated to "disperse people as much as practical." Officers have been able "to begin talking with the pilot directly," and called for residents to avoid the area until an all clear was given.

"With the mobility of an airplane of that type the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo," police said in the statement.

Citing an airport employee, the Daily Journal said that around 8:10 a.m., the plane had left Tupelo's airspace, "but that could change within moments."

Law enforcement at the scene said the pilot was flying near the Toyota plant in Blue Springs and that roads in west Tupelo around the airport had been re-opened as the threat shifted temporarily away from the area.

In an update at 8:35 a.m. the Tupelo Police Department said in a Facebook statement that 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," it added.

Governor Tate Reeves tweeted that law enforcement and emergency managers "are closely tracking this dangerous situation." He later followed up after the incident had been resolved.

"The plane over North MS is 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," Reeves wrote on Twitter. "All citizens should be on alert and aware of updates from the Tupelo Police Department."

Newsweek has contacted Tupelo Police Department for further information.

Update 09/03/22, 12:11 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information.

Update 09/03/22, 2:55 p.m. ET: The article was updated with the identity of the alleged plane thief and the charges he is facing.