This article addresses the topic of suicide. If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
A Massachusetts jury has acquitted a former police officer of charges that she attempted to shoot a fellow officer. The defense claimed she had been trying to take her own life when other officers arrived at her residence to deliver a restraining order from her ex-fiancé.
Kelsey Fitzsimmons, a 29-year-old who previously served with the North Andover police, faced trial on one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors argued she aimed a firearm at Officer Patrick Noonan and tried to discharge it during an incident on June 25, 2025.
Fitzsimmons, however, strongly refuted these claims, asserting that her actions were driven by a suicide attempt on the day officers came to her house to enforce a restraining order initiated by her fiancé, Justin Aylaian, and to take custody of her child.
Photographed at her arraignment at the J. Michael Ruane Judicial Center on August 28, 2025, North Andover Police Officer Kelsey Fitzsimmons stood accused. (Ben Pennington/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“My intention was never to harm anyone else,” Fitzsimmons stated earlier in the week. “At no point did I aim the gun at another officer. It simply did not occur.”
The verdict was handed down by Judge Jeffrey Karp after nearly four hours of deliberations on Thursday, according to WCVB.
Kelsey Fitzsimmons, 28, was shot during a confrontation with her fellow officers. (North Andover Police Department)
Karp decided the case because Fitzsimmons reportedly waived her right to a trial by jury.
“I think that Ms. Fitzsimmons, Officer Noonan and all the people involved in the tragic events of June 30, 2025, deserve an explanation,” Karp said before delivering his decision, according to WCVB.
“I am left with a reasonable doubt, and I am duty-bound to find that the Commonwealth has not met its burden to prove that Ms. Fitzsimmons committed an assault by means of a dangerous weapon,” he said. “My verdict is, and must be, not guilty.”
Karp added he found no evidence Fitzsimmons had been the victim of a conspiracy.
North Andover Police Officer Kelsey Fitzsimmons at her arraignment at the J. Michael Ruane Judicial Center Aug. 28, 2025. (Ben Pennington/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“I saw no evidence of a conspiracy in this case. What I saw was dedicated public servants, like Officer Noonan and his fellow officers, doing the best they could under rapidly evolving, emotional circumstances,” Karp said.
Fitzsimmons was shot by Noonan after allegedly pointing a gun at him and was later arrested and arraigned on one count of armed assault with intent to murder and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.
She was indicted in Essex Superior Court, but a grand jury ultimately chose to maintain just one count of assault with a dangerous weapon.
Upon taking the stand Wednesday, Fitzsimmons recalled the moment she was shot by Noonan.
“I went into like a huge adrenaline shock. It didn’t feel like normal pain. It almost felt like absent pain, but it felt like my entire body was burning, and I was completely alert, completely awake the whole time,” Fitzsimmons said.
“I was speaking as much as I could. My lung was punctured, so that’s why I was having trouble breathing, but other than that, I was very alert and aware of my surroundings.”
Immediately after the shooting, Fitzsimmons reportedly said the fire department and additional resources transported her from her home to a hospital, where she repeatedly told them she “wanted to die” after authorities arrived to serve the restraining order and take custody of her 4-month-old child.
“They brought me outside, and I think when I was still in my house, one of the firefighters was trying to put oxygen on my face, and I was taking it off and just saying, ‘I want to die, I want to die, I want to die.’”
In closing statements, defense attorney Tim Bradl pointed to the possibility that Noonan made the decision to shoot Fitzsimmons too quickly, according to the outlet.
“He’s the only one with the Rambo story,” Bradl said. “Everyone else has what Kelsey says. He walks into a suicide in progress. He sees it. He reacts. ‘Kelsey no, Kelsey no.’ Bam. Bam. Brain freeze. Mistake. He has to cover it up.”
However, prosecuting attorney James Gubitose reportedly held up Fitzsimmons’ empty gun during his closing, insisting that evidence contradicted Fitzsimmons’ testimony while praising Noonan’s police training.
“It’s impossible to have happened the way she said it,” Gubitose said. “It is scientifically, mechanically impossible for it to happen the way she said.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Essex County District Attorney’s Office added that the indictment “was brought in good faith, supported by credible police testimony and corroborated by the physical evidence,” and “while respecting the judge’s verdict, we disagree.”
“We also commend the professionalism and civility of prosecutors involved in this highly public and emotionally charged case as well as this being an instance of police officers acting to the best of their ability during a tragic and rapidly evolving incident. The work of police officers, particularly in cases involving restraining orders, is extremely dangerous, and I recognize their dedication, courage and willingness to serve.”
Fitzsimmons’ attorney did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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