The Scary Reason A Mississippi Walmart Had To Be Evacuated

If you were to Google "Walmart evacuation," you might be quite surprised to see how many times customers have been forced to flee this department store. One of the more commonly reported reasons is the dreaded bomb threat. Yesterday, shoppers at a Walmart in Muskego, Wisconsin were told to clear out after the police were advised of a bomb on the premises. The K9 unit found nothing and the store re-opened this morning (per Fox6).

In June, employees at a Heritage, PA Walmart found graffiti in a restroom alluding to the presence of a bomb in the store. They called the police and everyone was asked to leave the premises (via The Herald). WTNH explains that an Avon, Connecticut store experienced a similar event in July. And in the Canadian city of Ottawa, CTV reports that two Walmart stores received bomb threats on the same day. Thankfully, Walmart has procedures in place when there is a bomb threat, so you should be well-looked-after if you ever hear a "code blue." Yes, code blue means bomb threat. But that's not what caused an evacuation in Mississippi today.

And while the previous threats proved to be hoaxes, the Mississippi incident could not be so easily dismissed. It seems the danger was all too real.

When shoppers flocked to a Mississippi Walmart this morning, the last thing they probably expected was an urgent call to evacuate the store. As they left the building, however, the cause for concern likely became crystal clear. According to Forbes, a pilot contacted the Tupelo Police threatening to crash into the store with a plane. And, in the air, loomed a Beechcraft King Air "twin-engine turboprop plane." The Walmart and a neighboring convenience store were evacuated and police kept in contact with the pilot. ABC reports that the plane has since "crashed in a field near Gravestown" and that the perpetrator is in police custody.

Fox News has released a report that the pilot has been identified as Cory Patterson and is believed to be an employee of the local airport. CTV reports that the plane was likely stolen and that the Department of Homeland Security and other federal bodies are trying to uncover a motive. Governor Tate Reeves tweeted, "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." And now the biggest question in everyone's mind is, "Why?"