NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans police say eight suspicious devices that police discovered inside an abandoned pickup truck parked outside a bank contained chemicals that could have caused an explosion.

Police spokesman, Officer Frank Robertson III, says the devices will be sent to a lab for further analysis. Robertson says the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives is now in charge of the investigation.

The Times-Picayune reported a mounted police officer was alerted about 9:30 a.m. to the suspicious Ford F-150 pickup that had been in a Whitney Bank parking lot all weekend.

Robertson says the officer, who has military experience, opened the truck’s door and found what appeared to be two incendiary devices sizzling and smoking inside.

The discovery prompted an evacuation of the bank, nearby businesses and homes.

(MGNonline)