Pilot seeking to crash plane into a Mississippi Walmart lands safely, in custody

Governor Tate Reeves said in a statement that he “thankful the situation has been resolved and that no one was injured.”

(Twitter)

The pilot who flew over a Walmart in Tupelo, Mississippi, and threatened to crash into it has landed without causing any injuries.

His identity has been confirmed by the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal as Cory Patterson. Benton County Sheriff Dispatcher Connie Strickland confirmed to the Associated Press that the subject was in law enforcement custody.

The Tupelo Police Department declined The Independent’s request for further comment.

On Saturday, the Tupelo Walmart was evacuated on Saturday a rogue pilot flying above the store issued a threat to “intentionally crash” into it at around 5am. In a news release shared to their official Facebook page, the Tupelo Police Department initially said they’d been “talking with the pilot directly” and that the situation is “ongoing.”

The police department issued a second update around 8:35am to note that the situation was still being monitored.

A few hours later, around 11:37am, Governor Tate Reeves tweeted that “the plane over North MS is down.”

“Thankful 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 wrote.

ABC reported that the plane crash-landed “in a field near Gravestown” while some on Twitter shared snapshots of what appears to have been the landing.