A police officer from Massachusetts is currently facing trial for allegedly threatening fellow officers with a firearm, a case that has stirred considerable debate across the state.

Kelsey Fitzsimmons, aged 29, stood trial this week over an incident that took place in June 2025. During this episode, she is accused of brandishing her service weapon and making threats against officers who had come to her residence.

The officers were at Fitzsimmons’ home to deliver a restraining order requested by her then-fiancé, Justin Aylaian, who serves as a local firefighter.

Aylaian claimed that Fitzsimmons was suffering from mental health issues and had made threats against him and their infant son, who was four months old at the time. He was seeking sole custody of the child.

In her defense, Fitzsimmons argues that her intention was to harm herself due to the fear of losing custody of her son, and she denies any attempt to harm the responding officers.

However, the prosecution contends that Fitzsimmons aimed the gun at the officers and attempted to fire it, prompting Officer Noonan to discharge his weapon in self-defense. Fitzsimmons sustained a gunshot wound to the chest, resulting in a collapsed lung, and required several weeks of hospitalization.

In opening statements this week, prosecutor James Gubitose said the weapon had a full magazine and that the only reason it did not fire when Fitzsimmons pulled the trigger was because its chamber was empty. 

Glamorous Massachusetts cop Kelsey Fitzsimmons, 29, allegedly pointed a gun at her colleague. She is now on trial for it 

The chaotic episode unfolded when Fitzsimmons’ firefighter fiancé Justin Aylaian served her with a restraining order and alleged that she had threatened him and their four-month-old son 

The first witness in the trial on Monday was North Andover Police Lt. Sean Daley, who testified that he waited outside Fitzsimmons’ home as the other two officers attempted to serve her with the restraining order. 

Daley said he did not see Fitzsimmons bring out her weapon, but heard Noonan saying from inside the home, ‘Don’t do it Kelsey’.

He said he began running up the stairs and heard gunshots, then saw Fitzsimmons on the ground with a gunshot wound. 

He said she told the officers as she lay injured on the ground: ‘I’m sorry, I want to die.’ 

Prosecutors also showed footage from outside her home, showing Aylaian walking into their basement before hearing gunshots fired upstairs and running out of the house. 

The footage then showed first responders arriving at her home and carrying the cop out on a stretcher. 

At Fitzsimmons’ trial, prosecutors showed footage of officers arriving at her home and then wheeling her out in a stretcher after she was shot 

Fitzsimmons, seen at her trial on Monday, denies attempting to shoot her fellow officers and claims she only brought out the gun to kill herself 

Fitzsimmons was a North Andover Police officer for just over a year before the shooting incident in June 2025. She was fired following the incident 

The crux of the trial rests on whether Fitzsimmons pulled her gun on herself or on the other officers, with her attorney Timothy Bradl arguing that the episode was a tragic suicide attempt. 

He noted that officers were heard yelling ‘Kelsey, no, Kelsey, no’, saying that ‘you don’t say that when you’re staring at the muzzle of a gun pointed at you. You say that to a person who has a gun to their head.’

‘And you don’t shoot someone in the chest when they are seeking clearly to only harm themselves,’ he added. 

Massachusetts does not have a state law requiring police departments to wear body cameras, and the North Andover Police Department officers at the scene were not wearing cameras that would have shown the episode in Fitzsimmons’ home.  

Bradl alleged that officer Noonan tried to ‘adjust the narrative’ after the shooting in order to protect himself, and argued that he did not need to shoot Fitzsimmons in the chest. 

Fitzsimmons says she was in the throes of post-partum depression and never intended to harm anyone but herself 

Fitzsimmons said she was terrified of police taking her baby away from her 

He described Fitzsimmons as a panicking mother who thought her life was spiraling out of control as she faced losing custody of her daughter, and said she tried to tell the officers to leave the room so she could end her life. 

‘She made a decision for herself and it’s a decision that takes your breath away,’ Bradl said. 

‘She decides to end her life with her firearm in her bedroom. She knows her firearm is in her bedroom, and she tells police something else. 

‘She tells them the guns are in the basement, because she doesn’t want to involve them. The idea of harming them, the evidence will show, is ludicrous. 

‘She’s trying to get them away from her.’

Pat Noonan, pictured, is the police officer who shot Kelsey Fitzsimmons during the fiery confrontation with her ex-fiancé, a court was told 

Prosecutors alleged that Fitzsimmons lied about where her service weapon was during the incident, alleging that she abruptly grabbed it and pointed it at officers. She claims she only intended to shoot herself 

The former police officer was shot in the chest during the incident, and suffered a collapsed lung 

Prosecutors disputed Fitzsimmons’ version of the incident, claiming that the only reason it did not turn deadly was because there was no bullet in the chamber of her gun and due to Noonan’s SWAT team training. 

He said that when officers arrived at her home to serve her with the restraining order, she lied about where her guns were and told them she kept them in her basement. 

He said Noonan was with Fitzsimmons when she then went into her bedroom, and he ‘noticed that her demeanor changes and she gets upset… at that point she lunges to her right.’ 

The prosecutor alleged that she picked up her service weapon from in her bedroom, pointed it at the officers and pulled the trigger, but it did not fire. 

He alleged that she then tried to rerack the gun and raised it up, leading Noonan to shoot at her twice. One missed her and the other hit her in the chest. 

She was hospitalized for several weeks with a collapsed lung, and was later charged with assault. 

Fitzsimmons was a North Andover Police officer for just over a year before the shooting incident in June 2025. She was fired following the incident.  

She requested a bench trial instead of facing a jury, meaning a judge will decide her fate. The judge in her trial expected that he would hear evidence and come to a verdict within a week.