A Massachusetts police officer who spent more than 100 days in jail walked out of a Lawrence courthouse a free woman on Thursday after a judge delivered a stunning not guilty verdict in a case that hinged on two wildly different accounts of what happened in her bedroom.
Kelsey Fitzsimmons, 29, stood stoic as Judge Jeffrey Karp acquitted her of assault with a dangerous weapon following three days of testimony in the bench trial that concluded on March 26, 2026. The North Andover police officer faced the charge after fellow Officer Patrick Noonan shot her during a confrontation when officers arrived at her home in June 2025 to serve a restraining order.
The case presented Karp with an unusual dilemma: two credible witnesses with completely contradictory stories. Fitzsimmons testified she pointed her service weapon at her own head in a suicide attempt. Noonan insisted she aimed the gun directly at him.
Karp called both accounts largely believable, a situation he described as “unusual and somewhat perplexing.” In his experience, he said, it was rare to find two witnesses so credible yet so fundamentally at odds.
The incident unfolded after Fitzsimmons’ fiancé, Justin Aylaian, obtained a restraining order that removed their infant son from her care. Three officers from her own department showed up at her North Andover home to serve the order. Fitzsimmons has said she was suffering from severe postpartum depression, having given birth roughly four months earlier.
During testimony, Fitzsimmons described the moment she realized her life was collapsing around her. The restraining order meant losing custody of her son, her fiancé, her dog, her home and likely her career as a police officer.
“I wanted to be alone with my firearm and take my life. I made that decision when I realized I had just lost everything in a 15-second conversation with my co-worker,” Fitzsimmons told the court.
Noonan testified that he saw Fitzsimmons lunge behind her bedroom door, grab her weapon, and point it at him. He said he heard a click before she “tap racked” the gun twice to chamber a round. Noonan then fired two rounds, one striking Fitzsimmons in the chest and puncturing her lung.
Prosecutors argued during the trial that physical evidence supported Noonan’s account. They demonstrated in court how the gun clicked, and noted that officers found a round in the chamber when they emptied the weapon. Defense attorney Timothy Bradl countered that Noonan walked into “a suicide in progress” and made a split-second mistake he then had to cover up.
The shooting left Fitzsimmons with catastrophic injuries. An ambulance airlifted her to Massachusetts General Hospital, where she endured five surgeries and spent 53 days recovering. She then spent 103 days in jail after being unable to use an alcohol detection device required for her release.
Karp noted that the lack of body-worn cameras made his decision especially difficult. The North Andover Police Department had not yet implemented body camera policies when the incident occurred. He suggested prosecutors might have “easily” proven their case if the officers had been wearing cameras.
Ultimately, Karp said the absence of definitive evidence left him with reasonable doubt about the prosecution’s case. He declared himself duty-bound to find that the Commonwealth had not met its burden, and his verdict was—and must be—not guilty.
Outside the courthouse, an emotional Fitzsimmons addressed reporters about the toll the case took on her life. She sold her home during the legal proceedings and has not seen her son since the incident. She described the verdict as her first breath of fresh air and said she finally felt like she could breathe again.
She made clear that her legal battles are far from over. Her next fight will be regaining custody of her son.
Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker released a statement disagreeing with the verdict, saying the indictment “was brought in good faith, supported by credible police testimony, and corroborated by the physical evidence.” The statement praised the professionalism of prosecutors and police officers involved in what Tucker called “a tragic and rapidly evolving incident.”
Karp addressed potential conspiracy theories before closing his lengthy explanation of the verdict. He said he saw “no evidence of conspiracy” and described all the officers involved as “dedicated public servants” doing their best under rapidly evolving and emotional circumstances.
Before announcing the verdict, the judge warned the packed courtroom that emotions should remain in check. He reminded the audience that this was a courtroom, not a sports arena.
“This has been one of the more exhausting, hardest things I’ve had to do as a judge,” Karp said.
Fitzsimmons waived her right to a jury trial, placing her fate entirely in the judge’s hands. That decision paid off on Thursday when Karp sided with the defense’s argument that prosecutors failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.