Fired Police Officer Indicted in Shooting Hoax, Bomb Threat

A fired Massachusetts police officer was indicted Thursday on charges he made a bomb threat at a middle school in September and fabricated a story about taking gunfire before crashing his cruiser.

A Norfolk County Grand Jury issued six indictments against Bryan Johnson, 24, of Millis, including willful communication of a bomb threat to a school, misleading a criminal investigation, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, making a false police report, willful and malicious destruction of property over $250 for damage to his cruiser windshield by shooting a firearm into it and wanton destruction of property over $250 for damage to his cruiser from crashing and burning.

Johnson is accused of calling in a bomb threat to Millis Middle School the morning of Sept. 2, then using his personal 9mm handgun to fire three rounds into his own cruiser, a police report alleges. According to the report, Johnson then used his police gun to fire three more shots across Forest Road to make it appear as if he was firing back at a suspect.

Police also said Johnson reported "blacking out" before driving his cruiser into a wooded area, causing it burst into flames. The threat and collision sparked a townwide manhunt as police searched for suspects and prompted the closure of all Millis Public Schools.

Authorities later determined Johnson had staged the whole thing after finding "several inconsistencies" in his account of what happened that day. Millis police — Johnson's own department — arrested him shortly after the hoax.

Johnson pleaded not guility at his arraignment to charges in connection with the fabricated shootout, including malicious destruction of property, witness intimidation, unlawful discharge of a firearm and providing false information.

He was not initially charged with placing the bomb threat at Millis High School, but police said investigators later linked him to the threat.