LAWRENCE, Mass. (Court TV) — Former police officer Kelsey Fitzsimmons took the stand at her trial on Wednesday, growing emotional at times as she talked about the moment she was shot by a fellow officer inside her home.
Kelsey Fitzsimmons testified at her trial on March 25, 2026. (Court TV)
Fitzsimmons, 29, is charged with assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly pointing her weapon at a colleague in the North Andover Police Department who was at her home serving her with a restraining order on June 30, 2025. Fitzsimmons has pleaded not guilty to the charge and has maintained that she was pointing the gun at herself with the intention of taking her own life.
At the time of the shooting, Fitzsimmons was preparing to return to work at the North Andover Police Department after giving birth four months prior. She was engaged to the child’s father, Justin Aylaian, and while she conceded that she had been in a fight with her fiancé, Fitzsimmons testified that she had no idea what was coming. “I realized our relationship was over when a restraining order was handed to me,” she said.
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Fitzsimmons testified that she had been planning to meet Aylaian at a park on June 30, but that he failed to meet her at the planned time. After she returned home, she was surprised to find three members of her police department at her door with documents. “I knew in that moment, I was going to have to hand my 4-month-old to a police officer to be brought out of my house,” she said.
While she began packing a bag with diapers, clothes and supplies for her child — who, according to the restraining order, would be Aylaian’s custody for the next two weeks — Fitzsimmons’ mind was spinning. “My mind was going fast, like, I can’t work overtime because I have a son now. I can’t afford my home by myself without overtime,” Fitzsimmons said. “I lost everything. Even my doggy was on the restraining order.”
Fitzsimmons testified that she became suicidal. “I saw my baby go, my fiance, my dog, my house and I know that was going to be my job too,” she said. “I wanted to be alone with my firearm and take my life. … I made that decision as I realized I had just lost everything in a 15-second conversation with my coworker.”
Fitzsimmons said she tried to get the officers in her home to leave her alone in the bedroom, and saw a brief window of time while her colleague, Officer Patrick Noonan, had his back turned. “I knew if I pulled my firearm in front of a police officer, I would get shot. That was not my intention and that’s not what I did. I was trying to get them away from me so that didn’t happen,” she explained. “I’m not dumb. I was a police officer. If somebody takes a gun out in front of you, that’s a threat.”
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But Noonan did see the gun, and after yelling, “Kelsey, no!” he opened fire and shot her in the chest. “It felt like I was choking, it felt like I was drowning,” Fitzsimmons said of the experience. Once she got to the hospital, she said she realized what had happened. “I tried to kill myself with an unloaded gun. How could I be so stupid?”
Noonan testified on Tuesday that Fitzsimmons pulled the gun and pointed it directly at him, not at herself.
Fitzsimmons waived her right to a jury trial, which means Judge Jeffrey Karp will solely decide the verdict. Both the state and defense rested; closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday morning.
