Police responded to a call of a possible bomb at the entrance to the Upper City Centre Mall parking lot this morning around 7:30 a.m.
Staff sergeant Phil Harrison said he and other police officers arrived and blocked off the area, and found a red container.
"It was a red cardboard box, although it was painted up and looked like a metal box, with wires leading to a battery pack," he said.
Pictures were taken from a short distance away and sent to the RCMP bomb unit based in Vancouver, who were initially set to come to Kitimat, but Harrison said he managed a closer look and saw it was clearly a fake.
"Upon closer inspection, it became obvious it was a fake bomb, not a real one," he said. "So [the bomb unit] was called off and the fake bomb was hauled away and disposed of."
He added, "When you get really close to it and take a good look at it, you realize pretty quick it wasn't a real one."
He said one side of the package was open with a loose panel which he was able to see into, where he noticed there was no explosives.
He said local RCMP detachments don't have any bomb disposal equipment which is why a bomb unit from Vancouver has to be called in for such occasions.
So far they don't have any motive for the threat, except for possibly someone looking for their 15 minutes of fame, said Harrison.
The initial call regarding the bomb was not from anyone involved in this incident, he added.
"It was called in by a passer-by. Somebody going for Timmy's for their morning run and noticed it."