Fayetteville, N.C. — The discovery of a live grenade along a Fayetteville road  Thursday afternoon threw a neighborhood into commotion.

A man walking in the 1800 block of Strickland Bridge Road noticed the grenade and alerted police. Officers temporarily evacuated nearby homes and closed roads until an explosive ordnance disposal team removed the grenade at about 4:30 p.m.

Police said it was fortunate a nearby man on a riding lawn mower didn't get any closer to the grenade.

"If he were to run over it with the lawn mower or something like that, it could have been fatal to you or I or somebody driving by," Sgt. Tracy Campbell said.

"Scary, just real scary," said resident Cassandra Mcrae, who had to evacuate her home. "It took us about 10 minutes to get out of here."

Sandra Gordon said she talked to the man who said he had found what looked like an explosive device just outside her workplace.

"He said, 'It looks like a grenade.' I wasn't going over there, period," Gordon said.

Police said they are trying to determine where the grenade came from. The grenade had a serial number on it, and Fort Bragg authorities are assisting in the investigation.