A pilot, who threatened to intentionally crash into a Walmart store in Tupelo, a city in the state of Mississippi in the United States, crash landed his plane and has been taken into custody, say reports.
According to US media reports, the pilot is reported to have stolen the small aircraft, a Beechcraft King Air 90, from Tupelo Airport.
"Thankful the situation has been resolved and that no one was injured," Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said in a tweet.
"Thank you most of all to local, state, and federal law enforcement who managed this situation with extreme professionalism," he added.
Earlier, Tupelo Police Department said in a press release that the officials had “been able to begin talking with the pilot directly.”
Local police evacuated of the Walmart and asked residents not to go near the popular shopping store.
The pilot is an employee of Tupelo Regional Airport, and the plane is 1987 Beech C90A, a nine-seater with two engines, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported.
Its owner is Southeast Aviation, LLC, Oxford, Mississippi, it said.
“On 09-03-2022 at approximately 05:00 am TPD (Tupelo Police Department) was notified that a pilot of an airplane (possibly King Air type) was flying over Tupelo. The pilot has made contact with E911 and is threatening to intentionally crash into Walmart on West Main,” the police said in a statement.
Law enforcement told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal shortly after 8 am that the plane had left the airspace around Tupelo and was flying near a Toyota manufacturing plant in nearby Blue Springs.
“State law enforcement and emergency managers are closely tracking this dangerous situation,” Gov. Tate Reeves wrote on Twitter.
“All citizens should be on alert and aware of updates from the Tupelo Police Department,” he tweeted.
