A 911 report of an active shooter Friday evening in the Rolling Hills neighborhood of Whidbey Island was a ruse, according to Island County Sheriff Mark Brown.

Undersheriff Kelly Mauck said it may have been a case of “swatting,” in which an prankster tricks emergency responders into an emergency response.

A man claiming to be a resident called emergency dispatch Friday night and claimed that he was David Sponheim, founder of America’s Third Party and a former candidate for state representative. The caller claimed he had stabbed his girlfriend, was armed with a shotgun and would shoot his two nieces if the police responded, Brown said.

The sheriff’s SWAT team immediately prepared to respond to the potential hostage situation. The county’s emergency management department contacted about 140 residents of the neighborhood with a phone message, informing them of a potential active shooter situation and warning them to remain indoors.

At the same time, Mauck investigated Sponheim.

“The last thing you want to do is go into the wrong home or go into a home when it’s a bad situation,” he said.

Mauck found Sponheim’s live video blog for his political show and realized that Sponheim was on the air at the time. He called Sponheim and spoke to both him and his girlfriend. He instructed the woman to call 911.

Eventually both Sponheim and his girlfriend went outside and spoke to police officers, reassuring them that the call was a hoax.

Sponheim said that he was discussing Sen. John McCain’s war record during today’s show; he was defending the senator’s status of a hero against Donald Trump supporters who question the categorization.

Sponheim said he believes that the hoax was an attempt to silence him and his effort to start a third party. He said about 90 percent of his political signs have been stolen.

Today wasn’t the first time that someone threatened violence against him. A bomb disposal unit at the base responded to a suspicious package at his home five years ago.