(Reuters) - A fired Massachusetts police officer accused of a shooting hoax that put a Boston suburb in lockdown was found dead early on Thursday, CBS Boston reported.

The former officer, Bryan Johnson, 25, was pronounced dead in his home in Millis, a Boston suburb, CBS said, citing a statement from the Norfolk District Attorney's Office.

No signs of foul play were discovered and the death is not being treated as a homicide, the office said, according to CBS.

In a statement, Millis police said officers were called to the home for a medical emergency and found a man dead. They declined to identify him.

A grand jury indicted Johnson last week on six counts, including making a bomb threat to a school and misleading a criminal investigation.

Johnson, a part-time officer, was alleged to have called a dispatcher in September and saying a gunman had shot at his police cruiser.

Police swarmed into the town about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Boston and ordered schools locked down.

But forensic analysis showed the bullets that hit the squad car had come from Johnson's service weapon. Johnson was fired.







(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Marguerita Choy)