A US police SWAT team, called to what they believed to be a violent domestic row, left the scene red-faced after discovering that the suspect had been shouting at his PC.

Officers were called to an apartment block in Boulder, Colorado, by worried tenants who had seen a neighbour waving a handgun around and shouting that he "wanted to kill" the "bitch".

Police immediately called in a SWAT team and evacuated the building. Hundreds of passing cars were diverted from the scene and a large crowd gathered to find out what the rifle-equipped SWAT team was doing in the area.

However, police quickly left after establishing that the man had simply been suffering a bad case of PC rage, threatening his computer with a plastic pellet pistol.

"It was alarming and concerning and expensive for us, but the man's conduct didn't warrant any criminal charges," deputy police chief Dave Hayes told local reporters.

The PC menace's name was not disclosed as he was not arrested and had committed no crime.