Pilot of a stolen plane crashes near Mississippi town after threatening to crash into Tupelo Walmart!

Tupelo, Ms. – A stolen plane flying over a northern Mississippi city crashes into a field near Gravestown hours after the pilot threatened to crash into a Walmart store.

A stolen plane flew over Tupelo, Mississippi, on Saturday morning, and police said they evacuated a Walmart store after the pilot threatened to crash into it.

The Tupelo Police Department said in a Facebook post that a Walmart store and a nearby store had been evacuated. The plane began flying over Tupelo, Mississippi, around 5 a.m. He was still in the air about four hours later, but he flew away from Tupelo and was flying over another nearby community.

Police said they contacted the pilot directly.

“Citizens are asked to avoid this area until everything is cleared up,” the police wrote. “With an aircraft of this type on the move, the danger zone is much larger even than in Tupelo.”

Authorities believe the plane was stolen and are working to determine if the pilot threatening to crash was an employee of a local airport, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The people said that several federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, are now involved in the investigation and are working to determine the motive.

The people said investigators continued to monitor the flight path and were in contact with the pilot.

Law enforcement told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal shortly after 8 a.m. that the plane left airspace around Tupelo and was flying near a Toyota plant in nearby Blue Springs.

An online flight tracking service showed the plane zigzagging in the sky and following a circular path.

“State law enforcement and emergency directors are closely tracking this serious situation,” Governor Tate Reeves wrote on Twitter. “All citizens should be alert and aware of updates from the Tupelo Police Department.”

Leslie Kress, a magazine editor who lives in Tupelo, woke up early and was watching the situation on TV and social media. Many of her friends were outside watching the plane flying in the sky.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in this city,” Chris told The Associated Press. “It’s a scary way to wake up on a Saturday morning.”

Former Representative Steve Holland, a funeral director in Tupelo, said he had received calls from families concerned about the plane.

“Someone called and said, ‘Oh, my God, do we need to cancel the mother’s funeral?'” Holland said. “I just told them, ‘No, life will go on.'”

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