West Hills evacuation called off; no pipe bombs found

Police called off the evacuation of a West Hills neighborhood Thursday and were preparing to allow residents to return to their homes after the LAPD bomb squad determined a possible explosive device was only some piping.

About 20 homes in the area of the 6600 block of Royer Avenue were evacuated beginning about 7:15 a.m. after officers serving a search warrant on a house in the area found what they believed to be an explosive device, according to an LAPD statement.

Sgt. Bruce Alvarez said the object, which had appeared to be a possible pipe bomb, turned out to be some piping.

He could not say what the original search warrant was related to, but said no arrests have been made.

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Photo: The scene where a suspicious device was believed to have been found in West Hills. Credit: KTLA-TV