Man threatens to crash plane into local Walmart

Pilot Threatens to Crash a Stolen Plane Into a Walmart in Mississippi

The pilot of the small plane threatened to crash it into a Mississippi Walmart, police said. Authorities on Saturday evacuated a Walmart and nearby convenience store in Tupelo over the threat. Hours later, the airplane landed in a field, where the pilot was quickly arrested. At about 5 am on Saturday, Tupelo police were alerted to the fact a pilot in a small airplane had called 911 threatening “to crash purposefully” into a Walmart on West Main. The Tupelo Police Department said on a Facebook post that the threat was genuine and it was “a dangerous situation”.

. Members of the Tupelo Police Department were in direct contact with the airman. The Tupelo Police Department said in an early Saturday morning statement that “At this point, this is an active situation and the TPD and all emergency services within our region are on alert.” Citizens are asked to avoid the area until the full shutdown is given. With the mobility of a plane of this kind, the danger area is far larger than Tupelo, too. Tate Reeves wrote on Twitter: “State law enforcement and emergency managers are watching closely for this dangerous situation.”

All citizens should remain vigilant and stay tuned to updates from the Tupelo Police Department. . FlightAware showed that the pilot was flying in an unstable manner, with the aircraft reaching a maximum speed of 223 MPH, with an altitude of 23,000 feet. Tupelo-based news station WTVA reports that the aircraft landed at Ashland, Miss., at 11:24 a.m.

ABC24 in Memphis added, “Reports indicate that the aircraft landed in a field in Benton County, Mississippi. . The Daily Journal reported the aircraft was downed, with the pilot still alive, according to authorities. WTVA reported the aircraft came to rest one piece in a field southeast of Ashland — about 58 miles northwest of Tupelo. “The airplane is down; it is already on the ground.”

The subjects are being taken into custody,” a Benton County sheriff’s office official told Axios. WTVA reported the driver arrested was Cole Patterson. The Daily Journal confirmed, “Multiple law enforcement agencies, the airport, and local authorities identified the subject as Shannon-based Cory Patterson”.

. Phillip Lewis, an editor for The Huffington Post, shared screencaps of an alleged Facebook post by Cory Patterson, which said: “Sorry to all. I really do not ever mean any harm to anybody. I love my parents and sisters, it is not your fault.

The Daily Journal reports that the aircraft was a 1987 Beech C90A, a fixed-wing, twin-engine jet that seats nine. The plane’s owner is said to be Southeast Aviation, out of Oxford, Mississippi. The aircraft is said to have a maximum fuel duration of four hours.

Leslie Kriss — an editor at the Journal who lives in Tupelo — told The Associated Press: “I have never seen anything like it in this city. It is a terrible way to wake up Saturday morning.

The Federal Aviation Administration told ABC News it was aware of the situation and was in coordination with local law enforcement. A spokesman for the FBI’s Jackson Field Office said, “The FBI, in coordination with our state and local partners, is aware of the situation.

This is an active, ongoing investigation. We will provide more information as we get it. An official from the Mississippi Department of Public Safety said the Mississippis Office of Information is working to help the local and federal authorities.