A 29-year-old Mississippi airport worker has stolen a plane and is threatening to crash it at a Walmart. The police have evacuated the store and the surrounding area and are trying to talk to the man.
According to local media, police received a tip around 5 a.m. (local time) that a plane, possibly stolen, was flying low over the Mississippi town of Tupelo. Then the pilot called the police himself and threatened to intentionally crash the plane into a Walmart branch. Police said the man worked at Tulipo Airport.
After evacuating both Walmart and the surrounding area, the police attempted to negotiate with the man and land him. This has not worked yet. Police advised local residents to avoid the area where the pilot was flying. FlightRadar24 shows the pilot flying in circles over Tupelo and surrounding cities.
The man flies the Beech C90A King Air, a twin-engine aircraft. In the statement, the police said that due to the mobility of this type of aircraft, the danger area is greater than just the city of Tupelo.
