Bomb squad rushes to ATM after burglar had possible explosive device, Texas cops say

A Texas neighborhood was evacuated after police say a burglar tried to attach a potential explosive device to an ATM.

Harris County sheriff’s deputies arrived to a burglary call at a Wells Fargo ATM in Houston Tuesday morning, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a Twitter post. The ATM was damaged, but deputies noticed something a little odd: There was a device attached to the machine.

Gonzalez described the device as having “gas canisters with a triggering device connected,” though the device didn’t appear to be active, the tweet said.

Still, an area neighborhood was evacuated while the bomb squad safely disabled and removed the “potential explosive,” the Houston Chronicle reported.

“Our team has disabled the device and things are safe,” Gonzalez wrote on Twitter. “Sorry for the disruption to the neighbors. Great job by our patrol units to respond to the scene, prevent the burglary, and bomb techs for managing the device.”

Police are still looking for the suspect who sped away in a dark-colored four-door sedan when deputies arrived, the Chronicle reported.

This story was originally published October 29, 2019 at 9:39 AM with the headline "Bomb squad rushes to ATM after burglar had possible explosive device, Texas cops say."