UPDATE: 11:37 a.m.
(Reuters) -The pilot of a small plane who threatened to intentionally crash into a Walmart in Mississippi has landed without any injuries, Governor Tate Reeves said on Saturday.
Earlier, the police department in Tupelo, Mississippi said they had been talking directly to the pilot and had evacuated the Walmart and a gas station.
“Thankful the situation has been resolved and that no one was injured,” Reeves said on Twitter.
The Daily Journal, citing multiple sources, said the plane was down in Ashland, a sparsely populated part of Mississippi, and the pilot was still alive.
An image on social media from the Starkville Daily News showed a small plane in a field.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Diane Craft and Lisa Shumaker)
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ORIGINAL STORY:
(Reuters) -The pilot of a small plane has threatened to intentionally crash into a Walmart in Mississippi, local police said on Saturday, leading to an evacuation of the store.
The police department in Tupelo, Mississippi said they were notified about the situation earlier on Saturday and had been talking directly to the pilot.
“With the mobility of an airplane of that type the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo,” the police said in a statement on Facebook.
They added that Walmart and a gas station had been evacuated and people had been dispersed.
Social media videos, which Reuters could not immediately verify, appeared to show a small plane flying in circles at a low altitude.
The Daily Journal https://www.djournal.com/news/crime-law-enforcement/pilot-threatens-crash-landing-in-tupelo/article_336b01e5-1e04-566a-96ca-4b70d312ba31.html said the pilot worked at the Tupelo regional airport and the plane was currently flying near a Toyota plant.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Diane Craft and Lisa Shumaker)
