Local News

Police watchdog suspends North Andover officer shot by colleague

Kelsey Fitzsimmons was issued a suspension order this week. She joined the North Andover Police Department last spring.

Kelsey Fitzsimmons was sworn in as a North Andover police officer in May 2024. North Andover Police Department/Facebook

By Ross Cristantiello

July 15, 2025

2 minutes to read

The North Andover police officer who was shot by a colleague as they attempted to serve her a restraining order about two weeks ago was suspended by the state’s police watchdog Monday.

The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission issued a suspension order to Kelsey Fitzsimmons, and a redacted version of the document was posted online. Fitzsimmons was ordered to surrender her uniform, badge, firearm, and any other equipment.

Fitzsimmons, who survived being shot in the chest, faces one charge of assault to murder and two charges of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the incident. She has not yet been arraigned in Lawrence District Court and has not entered a plea.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, law enforcement authorities said that Fitzsimmons was in stable condition at a local hospital. They have not commented on her status since then. A spokesperson for Essex District Attorney Paul Tucker’s office said that there were no updates on the case when reached for comment Tuesday.

Fitzsimmons’s attorney, Timothy Bradl, has indicated that they plan to fight the charges. Bradl did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Fitzsimmons joined the North Andover Police Department last spring. She was shot during an “armed confrontation” that broke out when three of her colleagues showed up at a residence on Phillips Brooks Road, authorities said.

The court-approved restraining order being served to Fitzsimmons at the time of the shooting was filed by her fiancé, who said that her actions made him fear for his life and the life of their young child. In the application for the restraining order, he noted that Fitzsimmons was an officer with a license to carry, and he expressed concern over how she would react to being served with the order.

Officials have released few details about the actual shooting. Fitzsimmons was on administrative leave at the time. She had previously been involuntarily committed to Lowell General Hospital to be treated for postpartum depression. Fitzsimmons surrendered her department-issued firearm and at least one privately owned weapon at that time, but it is unclear if her weapons were returned to her before the shooting.

Bradl says that his client has been the subject of an “appalling” smear campaign designed to “criminalize her in order to deflect accountability” from the North Andover Police Department.

After showing signs of postpartum depression, Fitzsimmons needed “help” and “compassion,” he said in a statement last week. Instead, her colleagues “botched” the response and almost killed her, according to Bradl. He indicated that Fitzsimmons’s legal defense could center on the training practices of the department.

The on-duty officers who attempted to serve the restraining order included one supervisor. The officer that shot Fitzsimmons is a veteran who has served for more than 20 years, Tucker said. North Andover police do not wear body cameras, Chief Charles Gray said.

Bradl says that the affidavit filed by Fitzsimmons’s fiancé was “full of hearsay and self-serving allegations” and was “deliberately and widely leaked” in order to harm her reputation. That affidavit was filed in Essex County Probate and Family Court. A copy was provided to Boston.com earlier this month by the court.