The Massachusetts State Police has removed Det. Lt. Brian Tully as the head of the detective bureau posted at the Norfolk DA’s office and is ready to hire someone else for the job.

The MSP’s new leader, Col. Geoffrey Noble, “has conducted an initial review and believes this decision is in the best interest of the Department’s public safety mission,” according to a statement by MSP spokesman Tim McGuirk.

In a statement the agency sent out Friday night, a spokesman confirmed that Tully has been moved to a temporary assignment in the MSP Division of Investigative Services. Tully is currently the subject of an internal affairs investigation.

“Detective Lieutenant Tully will continue to be available to assist the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office with any cases in which he was previously involved,” McGuirk wrote in the bulletin.

Tully headed the detective bureau stationed at the Norfolk District Attorney’s office during the investigation into the death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe on Jan. 29, 2022. O’Keefe’s girlfriend, Karen Read, was charged with his murder.

The investigation was the target of Read’s defense, which claims that Read was framed by a massive police and prosecution cover-up.

The chief of the office oversees about 20 troopers tasked with investigating unattended deaths, narcotics and organized crime, sexual assault and abuse, larceny and related, financially motivated crimes. The office is also equipped with a digital evidence processing lab.

This is a developing story.