Man who police said threatened to crash plane in Tupelo has died in federal custody
Published 1:10 pm Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Tupelo television station WTVA has released the following news report
(WTVA) – The man accused of threatening to crash a plane into a Tupelo Walmart has died in federal custody.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Cory Patterson died on Monday, Nov. 14. An explanation has not been announced.
Tupelo Police said Patterson stole a small plane from the Tupelo Regional Airport on Sept. 3 and threatened to crash it into the Walmart store on West Main Street.
He eventually landed the plane in a field in Tippah County where he was arrested
Police said Patterson worked at the airport and had access to aircraft.
He faced local and federal charges as a result. His attorney Tony Farese had requested a psychological evaluation. Open the PDF link below to view the court affidavit.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons gave the following statement to WTVA.
“On Monday, November 14, 2022, at approximately 1:20 p.m., inmate Cory Patterson was found unresponsive at the Federal Detention Center (FDC) Miami in Miami, Florida. Responding staff immediately initiated life-saving measures. Staff requested emergency medical services (EMS) and life-saving efforts continued. Mr. Patterson was subsequently pronounced deceased by EMS personnel.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Marshals Service were notified. No staff or other inmates were injured and at no time was the public in danger.
Mr. Patterson was a 29-year-old male who arrived at FDC Miami on November 10, 2022, under pretrial status.
FDC Miami is an administrative security facility and currently houses 1,082 male and female offenders.
Additional information about the Bureau of Prisons can be found at www.bop.gov.”
WTVA also contacted the U.S. Marshals Service for a statement.
