HAMPTON, Va. — A reported hazmat situation in a Hampton neighborhood has turned into death and illegal drug manufacturing investigations, police said Wednesday.
The Hampton Police Division said officers, firefighters, and other crews were called to a home on Grimes Road in the Fordham section of the city on just after 2 p.m.
People who live nearby told 13News Now they initially did not know what was happening.
"I thought maybe a gas leak or something. Hazmat was out here, but it turned out worse. It's sad," said resident Robert Jarrell.
Upon first responders' arrival, Hampton Police Sgt. Ashley Jenrette said members of the Hampton Division of Fire and Rescue found a dead man inside a home. They reported also discovering items consistent with the manufacturing of methamphetamines.
As a precaution, hazmat crews were called out, several homes nearby were evacuated and Hampton police closed Grimes Road between E. Pembroke Avenue and Kensington Drive.
"I'm wrapping my head around it, still," a neighbor named Fallon said.
The whole ordeal left her visibly shaken. She watched people in hazmat suits pull things from her neighbor's home and go through them.
Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the Virginia State Police Hazmat Team were additionally called to assist with the investigation, Jenrette said in a news release.
On Thursday, police said a resident of the home, 31-year-old Ann Marie McQuade, was arrested on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine and conspiring to manufacture methamphetamine.
Police have not yet released the name or age of the man who died there. They also have not said how he died, but they did say the initial 911 call was for medical help and not connected to the illegal drugs.