Shelbourne Street was closed for several hours Friday after a cylindrical device was found outside the Jewish Community Centre.
The area was reopened after police determined that what was feared to be a bomb was actually a geocache, a waterproof container that typically contains a logbook and/or trinkets that is used in GPS-assisted scavenger hunts.
A woman called Saanich police just after 7 p.m. to say she saw the cylindrical device on Thursday, and opened it up to reveal a note labelling it as a geocache. The bomb squad from Vancouver was called off and police reopened the street to traffic.
The area had had been cordoned off since 3:40 p.m.
The bomb scare caused neighbouring businesses to close and prompted police to close Shelbourne Street to traffic between Church Avenue and Pear Street.
A bomb robot with a camera mounted on top was called in to inspect the package.
Saanich police say geocaches should be clearly labelled to avoid similar incidents.
Police looked at the package and deemed it suspicious, then decided, “out of an abundance of caution,” to block off the area, said Saanich police Sgt. John Price. The cordoned-off area gradually expanded from the west side of the street to the entire parking lot of Shelbourne Plaza.
