The Massachusetts police officer who was shot by a colleague during an attempt to serve her with a restraining order has been released on bail. The incident, which unfolded at Kelsey Fitzsimmons’ home, involved a confrontation that ended with her being wounded by gunfire.
Fitzsimmons, who formerly served with the North Andover Police Department, is accused by authorities of having aimed a firearm at the officer who shot her. However, she disputes this account, asserting that the gun was pointed at her own head rather than at the officers present in her home at the time.
The restraining order, which the officers were delivering, had been requested by Fitzsimmons’ fiancé, a firefighter, due to concerns over the safety of their infant son. He alleged that Fitzsimmons had threatened harm to their child, stating she might either kill the baby or take him away indefinitely.
Compounding his fears, the fiancé in his legal filing claimed that Fitzsimmons had engaged in self-harm during her pregnancy, reportedly striking her own stomach and expressing suicidal intentions that included harming their unborn child.
As a result of these alarming allegations, he sought full custody of their son, driven by deep concern for the child’s well-being.
In his restraining order petition, the fiancé said she ‘punched her stomach repeatedly while pregnant, saying she would kill herself and the baby’.
He also claimed that during a June 28 outing, Fitzsimmons allegedly punched him in the face three times while intoxicated.
Fitzsimmons was in custody at the hospital throughout the summer while she was recovering from her gunshot wounds. She was moved to jail in September and was not given the opportunity to make bail because she refused to take a breathalyzer test.
Kelsey Fitzsimmons, the ex-cop who was shot by her fellow officer in June, appears in court on Monday. She was charged with one count of armed assault with intent to murder after prosecutors claimed she pointed a weapon at three officers who were trying to serve her a restraining order her fiancé had requested
Fitzsimmons was released on bail on Tuesday after spending three months in jail. She told reporters outside the Essex Superior Court that she has ‘full faith in the juror system’
She was shot twice in the chest, which she and her lawyers argued made it physically impossible for her to do ‘the deep-lung exhale required for court-ordered alcohol monitoring’, according to WCVB.
In Essex Superior Court on Tuesday, her attorney, Timothy Bradl, argued that since she has been breathing better for the past month, she should meet the conditions for bail that the judge had set out.
The judge agreed and released her after she passed the breathalyzer test, though she’ll be on house arrest at her mother’s Methuen home. The house was cleared by the court as an acceptable place for her to be confined.
Fitzsimmons, who will wear an ankle monitor, will not be allowed to contact her fiancé, her child or any of the witnesses to the shooting. She was also ordered to not be in contact with firearms or alcohol.
Fitzsimmons has pleaded not guilty to charges of armed assault with intent to murder and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.
Outside the court in Salem on Monday, Fitzsimmons thanked her supporters and reiterated that she was innocent.
‘I just have full faith in the juror system and it’s going to be good when the truth comes out,’ she said. ‘All I wanted to do is be home with my family for Christmas, it’s all I wished for.’
Fitzsimmons had been on the force for about 18 months at the time of the shooting, and there were warning signs prior to the incident.
Fitzsimmons’s law enforcement certification has been suspended by the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission
In March, police and emergency medical responders were called to Fitzsimmons’s home for what was described as a ‘female having a mental health episode,’ records show.
She was hospitalized for 12 hours and diagnosed with postpartum depression. At that time, she turned in her service weapon.
After being medically cleared in June, Fitzsimmons was reinstated to active duty, along with her license to carry a firearm.
That was revoked after the shooting at her home in June, and now her law enforcement certification has been suspended by the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission.
This required her to turn in her badge, her firearm and any other police equipment. There is no indication that she has been formally fired, but with the suspension in place she cannot actively work as an officer.
Her trial is scheduled to begin on February 9.
