Pilot Who Threatened to Ram Walmart in Mississippi Faces Terror-Related Charges

On Saturday, the Tupelo Police Department said that at approximately 5:00 a.m., they had been notified that "a pilot of an airplane (possibly a King Air type) was flying over the city".

A man who stole a small plane and threatened to crash it into a Walmart in northern Mississippi is in custody and faces charges of grand larceny and making terrorist threats, local police said.

Police said Cory Patterson had stolen a King Air twin-engine jet from Tupelo’s airport and flew it over the town for a few hours, putting residents on edge. He eventually landed in a field and was arrested.

Earlier, state governor Tate Reeves said that the plane was "down", revealing that the situation "has been resolved and that no one was injured."

"Thank you most of all to local, state, and federal law enforcement who managed this situation with extreme professionalism," he tweeted.

Thank you to all to local, state, and federal law enforcement who took part in resolving this situation peacefully. #MHP #CourtesyServiceSafety pic.twitter.com/sEN45bCn20

— MHP New Albany (@MHPTroopF) September 3, 2022

Earlier, police have said that an aircraft has been circling a Walmart in Tupelo, Mississippi, since early Saturday, and that the pilot is threatening to deliberately crash into the store.

Tupelo Police Department (TPD) said in a statement on Saturday that they are evacuating the area to "disperse people as much as practical”.

A pilot has threatened to intentionally crash this plane into a local Walmart in Tupelo, Mississippi, police say pic.twitter.com/lvWqKfwBDA

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 3, 2022

TPD also said that “with the mobility of an airplane of that type the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo” and asked citizens to avoid that area "until an all clear is given”.