A search warrant at a Houston-area home turned into a bomb squad response on Thursday after deputies said they found what looked like a pipe bomb inside. Harris County Precinct 1 deputies were serving the warrant in the morning at the intersection of Fry Road and Gilpin Street when they came across the suspicious device and quickly pulled back from the home.
Deputies had been sent to the residence to execute a search warrant tied to an investigation into possible child pornography. Two people were inside the home at the time the officers arrived and began working their way through it, according to the constable's office, as the routine search took an unexpected and dangerous turn.
As they searched, deputies said they found a suspicious device that had some sort of wick attached to it. Recognizing the potential danger, they moved fast. Out of an abundance of caution, the officers exited the home and called in the bomb squad to retrieve the device rather than risk handling it on their own.
The description of the item raised immediate concern. Authorities said it looked like a pipe bomb, with a wick like the kind used to set off a firework, and that it was wrapped in foil and electrical tape. There were also screws around it, the sort of material people commonly pack into a bomb in order to cause harm.
With a possible explosive inside the house, the response shifted to securing the scene. Constable Alan Rosen urged people to stay out of the area while crews worked, and the bomb squad was brought in to deal with the device carefully instead of having deputies attempt to move it themselves.
Officials stopped short of drawing firm conclusions about the device, noting they are not bomb experts and were leaning on the specialists to assess it. As the bomb squad worked to retrieve and examine the item, the neighborhood around Fry Road and Gilpin Street remained cordoned off as a precaution.