NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. (WHDH) - Editors note: This article mentions suicide. If you need help, you can contact the crisis hotline at 9-8-8.
A judge found former North Andover police officer Kelsey Fitzsimmons not guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon at Essex County Superior Court Thursday afternoon.
“This is my first breath of fresh air and I feel like I can breathe again,” Fitzsimmons said after the not guilty verdict.
Fitzsimmons was off-duty when she was shot by a fellow officer at her home on Phillips Brook Road in July 2025. She was accused of pointing a gun at that officer while he was trying to serve her a restraining order from her fiancé.
The case boiled down to a he-said, she-said scenario in a trial that lasted for three days with 11 witnesses called and 100 exhibits shown. Fitzsimmons waived her right to a jury, instead opting for a bench trial and a judge to decide her fate.
Fitzsimmons took the stand in her own defense Wednesday, telling the court she wanted to take her own life and that she “never pointed the gun at a fellow police officer,” but instead pointed it at her temple.
“I saw my baby go, my fiancé, my dog, my house, and I knew it as going to be my job, too,” Fitzsimmons testified.
North Andover police officer Pat Noonan testified earlier this week, saying that while he was in Fitzsimmons’ bedroom, she grabbed her service weapon, pointed it at him and fired, but there was no bullet in the chamber.
There was no body camera worn at the time of the incident.
While delivering his verdict, Judge Jeffrey Karp said the Commonwealth’s case left him with reasonable doubt.
“Perhaps the commonwealth could’ve easily met its burden if the officers had been wearing body cameras,” Karp said.
Fitzsimmons, who is also a mother to a new baby boy, thanked her supporters ouside court.
“Don’t stop fighting for what’s right. And when you know you didn’t do something wrong, keep fighting for that,” she said. “My fight is not over. I have a son that I need to reunite with and that’s where we are right now.”
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