[elfsight_social_share_buttons id=”1″]

The pilot of a small plane has threatened to intentionally crash into a Walmart in Mississippi, local police said on Saturday, leading to an evacuation of the store.

The police department in Tupelo, Mississippi said they were notified about the situation earlier on Saturday and had been talking directly to the pilot.

“With the mobility of an airplane of that type the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo,” the police said in a statement on Facebook.

They added that Walmart and a gas station had been evacuated and people had been dispersed.

Social media videos, which Reuters could not immediately verify, appeared to show a small plane flying in circles at a low altitude.

The Daily Journal said the pilot worked at the Tupelo regional airport and the plane was currently flying near a Toyota plant.

Copyright 2022 Thomson/Reuters