A standoff on Redstone Road in Huntsville Tuesday night was the result of a hoax known as "swatting," police say.

Officers responded around 9 p.m. to a shooting call at the Glenview Apartments, where a caller said a suspect had possibly shot his mother. When the man in question opened his door and saw police, including a SWAT team, he closed the door again, leading to a standoff.

Nearby apartments were evacuated during the standoff, which ended peacefully about an hour and a half later. The man is not facing charges, however, because police officials say he had no idea what was going on when officers arrived and that the 911 call appears to have been a hoax.

"We're confident he didn't make the calls and knew nothing about it," Lt. Stacy Bates, a Huntsville Police spokesman, told AL.com Wednesday morning.

"Swatting" is a growing criminal trend of internet hoaxes in which someone finds out a victim's home address, often by obtaining their computer internet protocol, or IP, address, and tricks 911 dispatchers into sending a SWAT team to the house.

Investigators are trying to determine who made the 911 call. That person could face charges, including possible felony charges.

"Anyone who commits these type of crimes can be charged with a number of crimes from false reporting to law enforcement, to rendering a false alarm, depending on the situation," Bates said.

Aside from the possible criminal charges, there is danger involved for both the police and the "swatting" victims when armed officers are required to go into an unknown situation. Neighbors also are sometimes forced to evacuate and motorists rerouted until the situation is cleared.

"We have to treat every incident as if it is legitimate," Bates said. "We have to commit a lot of manpower and resources to incidents like this as well, such as tying up patrol officers and calling in specialized units."