Crime

‘I had just lost everything’: Kelsey Fitzsimmons testifies in her trial

Fitzsimmons, a former North Andover police officer, described the moment she was shot by a colleague last year.

Kelsey Fitzsimmons testified Wednesday. Screenshot/NBC10 Boston

March 25, 2026 | 3:16 PM

8 minutes to read

This story includes descriptions of an attempted suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

The trial of Kelsey Fitzsimmons continued Wednesday in Essex County Superior Court.

Fitzsimmons, a former North Andover police officer, stands accused of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. She was shot by a colleague, Officer Patrick Noonan, on June 30, 2025, in her home. The shooting occurred as officers attempted to serve her a restraining order that had been granted to Justin Aylaian, Fitzsimmon’s then-fiancé and the father of her child.

Catch up on all the details of the case here.

Judge Jeffrey Karp is overseeing a bench trial, which began Monday with opening statements and witness testimony. Noonan and others took the stand on Tuesday. Fitzsimmons herself testified Wednesday.

Both sides rested their cases Wednesday. Attorneys for Fitzsimmons initially sought to have Karp conduct a visit at the North Andover home where the shooting occurred, but they waived the motion seeking the visit Wednesday. Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday morning.

Kelsey Fitzsimmons

On the stand, Fitzsimmons walked through her law enforcement history. She obtained a criminal justice degree from Fisher College, attended the Massachusetts School of Law for three semesters, then worked as a correctional officer for the Essex County Sheriff’s Office. She was hired by the North Andover Police Department and, in May 2024, graduated from the police academy. Lt. Sean Daley was one of the people who made the decision to hire her, she said.

After doing ride-alongs with other officers, Fitzsimmons was approved to get her own cruiser in the summer of 2024. She worked until she gave birth in February of 2025. She was cleared to go back to work in June of 2025, a process that required certain training and reviews, she said.

Fitzsimmons spoke briefly about her relationship with Aylaian. They met on Facebook and started dating while she was in the police academy. He “pinned” her during her graduation ceremony. They got engaged and were planning to have a wedding in October of 2025.

Fitzsimmons said that Aylaian essentially broke up with her by filing for the restraining order on June 30, 2025.

“I realized our relationship was over when a restraining order was handed to me,” she said.

Fitzsimmons was required to attend an hourlong CPR training on June 30. She asked Aylaian if he could come pick their son up while she went to the training. This led to a long argument over text message. They also spoke on the phone, with Aylaian agreeing to meet Fitzsimmons at the North Andover Town Common after her CPR training. She attended the training with her son, then drove to the park, she said.

The most direct route there took Fitzsimmons by the house of one of Aylaian’s friends. She saw Aylaian’s truck there along with other vehicles she recognized as belonging to friends that had attended a joint bachelor/bachelorette party for the couple the weekend before. Fitzsimmons said she tried to contact Aylaian then, but he cut off all communication with her. Aylaian’s friend told her that the gathering was for people to get things that they had forgotten over the weekend, which did not make sense to Fitzsimmons, she said.

She continued to the park, waited there for over an hour, then went home. Aylaian never showed up. Fitzsimmons’s home in North Andover was next door to Atkinson Elementary School. She parked at the school, not at her home, because she knew “something was going on” and thought that Aylaian and others might try to come to her house. She did not want them seeing her car and knowing she was home, she said.

Her mother, Lauren Page, came over for about an hour and then left. Daley, Noonan, and Officer Timothy Houston arrived shortly afterward.

Fitzsimmons described working on the same shift as Noonan for a brief period of time and that she thought well of him and had no reason to think that he disliked her. She described responding to a call about a murder-suicide involving a mother and her infant with many officers, including Noonan.

At the house on June 30, Fitzsimmons said she was told about the restraining order and that she should pack a bag for her son because he would be staying with Aylaian for at least two weeks. Fitzsimmons handed her son to Noonan, knowing subconsciously that he is a father and trusting him to safely hold the baby, she said.

As Fitzsimmons gathered items from around the house, she started to truly process the implications of the restraining order.

“I saw my baby go, my fiancé, my dog, my house, and I knew that it was going to be my job, too,” she said, growing visibly emotional.

Fitzsimmons confirmed that she lied to the other officers by saying that her guns were in the basement. She knew they were upstairs and that she wanted to use one to kill herself.

“I made that decision as I realized I had just lost everything in a 15-second conversation with my coworker,” she said.

Fitzsimmons said she never expected Aylaian to be allowed into her home and that she thought the child would be handed over to him outside. Proper police procedure requires that officers keep people apart who are having an argument, she said.

She did not want to involve the other officers there in her attempt to kill herself, she said. Fitzsimmons handed them items, hoping that they would leave her alone so that she could do so. She did not want to put them in a position of confronting her while she had a gun, she said.

“I knew if I pulled out my firearm in front of a police officer, I would get shot,” Fitzsimmons said.

“I’m not dumb, I was a police officer. If someone takes out a gun in front of you, yes, that’s a threat, yes, that’s somebody that you probably feel threatened from,” she added.

When asked why she did not consider killing herself by purposefully being shot, Fitzsimmons said such a move would be “selfish.”

“Even looking back now, reflecting for nine months, I think my decision to do it to myself was selfish to everybody who loves me,” she said. “I wanted to kill myself. Me and my gun. No one else involved.”

After Aylaian arrived at the house and Houston went downstairs, Fitzsimmons and Noonan were left alone on the second floor. According to Fitzsimmons, Noonan also went down several steps while she was in her bedroom. When she went to grab her gun from a chest, no one was visible on the landing outside the room, she said.

Fitzsimmons said she grabbed the gun quickly, briefly held it near her stomach, took a few steps backward, and raised the weapon to her temple. When Noonan came back into her view, the gun was only pointed at her head, she said. She never intended to harm him, she insisted.

Fitzsimmons recalled Noonan saying, “Kelsey no, Kelsey no,” before she pulled the trigger. The gun did not fire, and she let out an expletive. Fitzsimmons said she was shot by Noonan as she finished saying the curse word.

Fitzsimmons recalled Noonan holding her hand after the shooting, and she asked him, “Why?” She described being confused but also alert and full of adrenaline.

“It didn’t feel like normal pain, it almost felt like absent pain, but it felt like my entire body was burning. I was completely alert, completely awake the whole time,” she said. “I was very alert and aware of my surroundings.”

Fitzsimmons recalled saying one thing over and over to the first responders and hospital workers who saved her life: “I’m a f—ing idiot, I just tried to kill myself with an unloaded gun, I’m a f—ing idiot.”

She was briefly cross-examined by Assistant Essex District Attorney James Gubitose, who focused on what Fitzsimmons knew of Noonan’s training.

Fitzsimmons said that she felt betrayed by Aylaian and that any emotions she felt on June 30 were directed at him, not the officers in her house. Gubitose asked about how she made the decision to attempt suicide and the moments where she realized the implications of the restraining order. Gubitose asked if this was all because of what Aylaian did, to which Fitzsimmons replied, “Yes.”

Other witnesses

Page testified earlier on Wednesday. She described being very close to her daughter and being called by Fitzsimmons to come over on June 30. Fitzsimmons was sad and confused, she said.

Page left Fitzsimmons’s home around 5:30 p.m. that day but got a call from her daughter about 15 minutes later and came back. She took her grandson from one of the officers, before being asked to hand the baby off to Aylaian once he arrived. She did so.

Page described hearing Noonan shout and the gunshots while downstairs in the home. She recalled screaming as first responders ushered her out of the home. Fitzsimmons could be seen wiping tears from her eyes as her mother testified.

A North Andover resident named Maureen Torrisi also testified. She is one of Noonan’s neighbors, and the two would sometimes chat while walking their dogs. Torrisi recalled a conversation in August 2025 when she brought up the shooting with Noonan.

Noonan told Torrisi that he was the shooter and briefly described the shooting. He told Torrisi that Fitzsimmons pointed the gun at him and that it did not fire. He said that he was not going to let her get another shot off and that he had to shoot her, Torrisi recalled.

Torrisi said she found his story confusing and asked why the officers went to Fitzsimmons’s home to serve her with the restraining order instead of asking her to come to the police station. Torrisi also asked Noonan why the officers did not have a social worker with them on the call, if they knew that Fitzsimmons had a young child, she testified.

“Well, she’s a f—ing whackjob,” Noonan replied, according to Torrisi.

Torrisi was asked by Gubitose about social media posts she made regarding the case. Torrisi reposted a statement that Fitzsimmons’s attorney Timothy Bradl made in July of 2025.

Gubitose also directed Torrisi to a post she made last August where she said that the case was a “setup from the get-go.”

“Their narrative will not pass the smell test. I hope all involved are ready for the tireless scrutiny that independent media will bring to light through extensive research,” Torrisi wrote. “We have just begun.”

She did not deny making the posts. In explanation, Torrisi said that “the judicial system seems to be going awry, and there’s more eyes on things now.”

Torrisi read a comment she made under a post that the North Andover Police Department made on social media regarding National Police Woman Day. The department was recognizing some of its officers in the post that are unrelated to the case. “Wow, let’s hope they stay safe from their colleagues,” Torrisi commented.

Sgt. David Strong of the Massachusetts State Police testified for the prosecution Wednesday. He described responding to the scene, writing a search warrant, and helping to search the home. Strong said that the NAPD had exclusive control over the scene for about 20 minutes following the shooting before State Police troopers came and took over. No officers entered the house until the search warrant was approved, he said.