Watch – Police: A plane hovering over the city of Mississippi threatens to crash
A stolen plane hovered over north Mississippi Saturday morning, and police said it evacuated a Walmart store after the pilot threatened to crash into it.
The Tupelo Police Department said in a Facebook post that the Walmart and a nearby convenience store had been evacuated. The plane began circling over Tupelo, Mississippi, around 5 a.m. It was still in the air more than four hours later, but had left Tupelo and was circling another nearby community.
The Police said they contacted the pilot directly.
“Citizens are asked to avoid that area until all approval is given,” police wrote. “With the mobility of an aircraft of that type the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo.”
Authorities believe the plane — a Beechcraft King Air C90A — was stolen and are working to determine whether the pilot threatening to crash the plane is an employee of a local airport, two people briefed on the matter told The Associated Press. Multiple federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, are now involved in the investigation and are working to identify a motive, the people said.
Investigators were continuing to monitor the flight path and were in communication with the pilot, the people said.
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said the agency is aware of the flight and is coordinating with local law enforcement.
Law enforcement told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal shortly after 8 a.m. that the plane had left airspace around Tupelo and was flying near a Toyota manufacturing plant in Blue Springs nearby.
An online flight tracking service showed the plane circling the sky and following a looping path.
“State law enforcement and emergency managers are closely monitoring this dangerous situation,” Governor Tate Reeves wrote on Twitter. “All citizens should be alert and aware of updates from the Tupelo Police Department.”
Leslie Criss, a magazine editor who lives in Tupelo, woke up early and was watching the situation on TV and social media. Several of her friends were outside watching the plane circle overhead.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in this city,” Criss told The Associated Press. “It’s an awesome way to wake up on a Saturday morning.”
Former state Rep. Steve Holland, who is a funeral director in Tupelo, said he had received calls from families concerned about the plane.
“One called and said, ‘Oh, my God, do we need to cancel mom’s funeral?'” said Holland. “I just told them, ‘No, life will go on.'”