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A pilot of a small private plane circled erratically in the skies over Tupelo, Miss., and threatened to crash into a downtown Walmart early Saturday morning before flying northwest, authorities said.
Around 9:30 a.m., the plane flew north of Tupelo in the Union County area, the Tupelo Police Department said on Facebook.
“Local, state and federal authorities continue to monitor this dangerous situation,” the department said.
Police said they received reports around 5 a.m. local time that the plane was flying over the city. According to the department, the pilot had called 911 and was “threatening to intentionally crash into the Wal Mart on West Main.”
Police said they had spoken directly to the pilot. Officers were working to evacuate the Walmart and a nearby gas station and “disperse people as much as possible,” according to police.
“Citizens are asked to avoid this area until the all clear,” the Facebook post said. “With the mobility of an aircraft of this type, the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) said law enforcement officials and emergency managers are also closely monitoring the situation.
“All citizens should be alert and aware of updates from the Tupelo Police Department,” Reeves said in a statement.
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said in an email that officials were aware of the situation and were coordinating with law enforcement.
Police said the plane may be a King Air, a twin-prop plane that typically has room for seven to twelve passengers and is 35 to 40 feet long.
The Walmart that was the target of the threats is located in a strip mall near downtown, near stores, gas stations and single-family homes. There is also an elementary school two blocks away.
Walmart spokesman Charles Crowson said the store was closed and evacuated. “We are working closely with local investigators and are referring questions to law enforcement,” he said.
Videos from social media users in the area showed a low-flying plane circling a neighborhood.
“Not sure what’s going on,” one user wrote, “but this plane has been flying in circles for 45 minutes around Tupelo.”
Flight tracking data showed what appeared to be the plane’s flight path. The pilot made numerous circles around Tupelo before flying about 50 miles northwest and circling back over the Holly Springs National Forest. The plane was listed as a Beechcraft King Air 90, which has a range of less than 1,000 miles.
Records show the plane was last registered to Southeast Aviation, a company in Oxford, Mississippi. On Aug. 26, he took a round-trip flight from Tupelo to Garden City Regional Airport in southwest Kansas, records show.
This is a developing story that will be updated.