A plane circling over northern Mississippi landed safely on Saturday, after its pilot threatened to crash it into the ground, KMBC reported, quoting authorities.
In a tweet, Governor Tate Reeves said that the situation "has been resolved and that no one was injured." He also thanked law enforcement agencies for their help in bringing about the safe landing.
The plane, which had begun circling over Tupelo, Mississippi, at round 5:00a.m., was in the air for over five hours.
In a statement, the Tupelo police department (TPD) said that it had been informed that "a pilot of an airplane (possibly King Air type) was flying over Tupelo, a city in north-east Mississippi. The pilot has made contact with E911 and is threatening to intentionally crash into Walmart on West Main."
According to the Associated Press, authorities believe that the aircraft was stolen, and are trying to determine whether the pilot is an employee of a local airport. At the same time, multiple federal agencies are investigating the incident and working to discern a motive.
WTVA reported that the plane appears to be "in one piece" after landing southwest of Ashland in Benton County.
Mississippi's Daily Journal said that the pilot is in police custody and that local news reports identified him as Cory Patterson of Shannon, Mississippi. Sky News said that Patterson does not hold a pilot's license, but had taken some lessons.