Residents of a Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, neighborhood just over the border from Berks County evacuated their homes on Tuesday after police began removing explosive devices. One person was arrested in connection with the devices, officials said.

Pennsylvania State Police's Jonestown Barracks and local law enforcement evacuated everyone in the immediate vicinity of Central Drive in Mill Creek Township from their homes. Other residents within a quarter-mile radius of the block were requested to evacuate, but that was voluntary, police said.

A temporary shelter was set up at Living Stones Christian Fellowship on Main Street in Newmanstown, Pennsylvania, for residents while they waited to return home, the Womelsdorf Volunteer Fire Company in Berks County said. Police lifted the evacuation order just before 3:30 p.m. 

Timothy Shaeffer Jr., of Columbia, Pennsylvania, was arrested in connection with the incident. A female went to Berks County police on Monday to report that Shaeffer had potentially violated a protection-from-abuse order, the Lebanon County District Attorney's Office said in a press release on Tuesday. She told police Shaeffer had homemade explosives stored in a safe in a home in Lebanon County, according to District Attorney Pier Hess Graf's office. She also gave police a remote firing device for an explosive and obtained a temporary protection-from-abuse order against Shaeffer in Berks County.

Berks County police shared the information with Pennsylvania State Police, who responded to the location of the safe, a home on Central Drive. Law enforcement officers x-rayed the safe, revealing what appeared to be a homemade bomb, according to the DA. Authorities then alerted and evacuated neighbors. A resident of the home said Shaeffer had told them the safe contained explosives and said no one had touched it since he dropped it off. Shaeffer told police the safe was his, and the FBI took measures to contain it, the DA's office said. 

Inside the safe, the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police found 14 explosive devices, including one that worked with the remote that had been turned into police, as well as personal items belonging to Shaeffer, the DA's office said. 

After consulting with the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police, Graf is charging Shaeffer with possessing weapons of mass destruction, reckless endangerment and other charges. The suspect has prior drug convictions and protection from abuse order violations.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, the following resources are available to help:
National Domestic Violence Hotline

• 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE)
• 1-800-787-3224 (TTY for the Deaf)

Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence

• 1-800-932-4632 (in Pennsylvania)
• 1-800-537-2238 (national)