Police said they uncovered a methamphetamine manufacturing operation Friday morning when they arrived at a home in the East Suffolk Gardens neighborhood for an unrelated matter.

“Evidence of the manufacture of methamphetamine was found at this location,” a city press release stated.

According to the press release, police responded to an unrelated matter in the 500 block of Roosevelt Drive at approximately 9:24 a.m. Suffolk Fire and Rescue was contacted to respond to the potential hazardous material situation at 10:08 a.m.

The initial investigation by police revealed a methamphetamine manufacturing operation, according to the press release.

Virginia State Police personnel assisted at the scene, and occupants of four neighboring residences at the scene were evacuated until the scene was cleared and the hazards mitigated, according to police.

Neighbors suspected that methamphetamine was involved in the incident by the emergency response personnel and the smell in the air.

“You could tell it was chemical,” said Myers Hunt, a neighbor who noticed the smell in the air that morning.

Hunt said this was the first time such an incident took place in his typically quiet neighborhood.

“It’s shocking,” he said. “This is a nice place.”

William Goodman, the president of the neighborhood civic league, had not witnessed such an event in the neighborhood since he started living there in 1967. He said he believed a man and a woman live at the house.

“This is catastrophic for a neighborhood like this,” he said.

Hunt was relieved that, to his knowledge, none of his neighbors were harmed in the Friday incident.

“I’m thankful that all of them are safe, because they are good people,” he said.

The Suffolk Police Special Investigations Unit is conducting the ongoing investigation.