Rogue pilot who allegedly stole plane threatening to crash jet into Mississippi Walmart

A rogue pilot who purportedly stole a Beechcraft King plane at 5 a.m. this morning is threatening to dive bomb the small private aircraft into a Mississippi Walmart, according to a Tupelo Police Department press release.

Area residents searched the skies for the plane while waiting for news from local authorities, and reports indicate the pilot contacted authorities to warn them of his possible plan, and law enforcement officials have been coordinating with Walmart stores to clear areas of potential danger.

“Citizens are asked to avoid that area until an all clear is given,” the police wrote. “With the mobility of an airplane of that type, the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo.”

As of 8 a.m. the crisis scenario was continuing and the plane was flying above the town of approximately 38,000 people, but police told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal shortly thereafter that the plane flew away from the town and was flying close to a Toyota manufacturing plant in nearby Blue Springs.