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North Andover officer shot by colleague must remain in jail, highest court rules
Kelsey Fitzsimmons was ordered to return to jail last month after saying that she could not safely use an alcohol testing device.
The North Andover police officer who was shot by a colleague in an “armed confrontation” earlier this year is set to remain in jail ahead of her trial after the state’s highest court ruled against her this week.
The officer, Kelsey Fitzsimmons, faces one charge of assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with an incident that occurred in her home on June 30. She has pleaded not guilty.
Fitzsimmons, who was off-duty at the time, was shot by another NAPD officer when her colleagues came to serve her a restraining order. Fitzsimmons says she had been struggling with postpartum depression. The restraining order was granted to her fiancé, who said in an affidavit that Fitzsimmons’s actions leading up to the incident made him fear for his safety as well as hers and that of their infant child.
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Fitzsimmons spent weeks recovering from her gunshot wound in a hospital before being transferred to a jail. She was released on a number of conditions, including that she submit to alcohol testing. But Fitzsimmons only spent a few days out of custody before being ordered to return to jail.
A judge ordered her return to jail after Fitzsimmons said that she could not use the alcohol testing device because breathing into it caused tremendous pain, dizziness, and prevented her broken ribs from healing fully. Citing Fitzsimmons’s “history of aggressive behavior while intoxicated,” the judge determined that the use of the alcohol testing device was necessary to ensure the safety of the public. Since Fitzsimmons could not meet the conditions of her bail, she had to return to jail.
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Fitzsimmons and her lawyers sharply criticized the judge, arguing that she mishandled the case and caused a “completely improper nightmare scenario.” Fitzsimmons appealed to the state’s Supreme Judicial Court, asking the SJC to vacate the lower court’s ruling.
The SJC ruled against Fitzsimmons in a document filed Wednesday, concluding that the lower court judge “did not commit an error of law or otherwise abuse her discretion.” The SJC noted that she could still request to be released if new information comes to light that was not known at the time of her early September hearing in Essex Superior Court.
Attorneys representing Fitzsimmons did not return requests for comment Thursday. She is due back in court on Nov. 25 for a trial assignment conference.
The specifics of what led up to the shooting are debated, and the fact that NAPD officers do not wear body cameras make the case a “he said she said” affair, Fitzsimmons’s lawyers say.
Over the summer, she released a lengthy statement detailing the interaction from her point of view. According to Fitzsimmons, she grabbed a gun and attempted to take her own life while her colleagues were serving the restraining order. In the throes of depression, she believed her son would be taken away from her and that her career as a police officer was over, she said. Fitzsimmons is adamant that she never aimed a weapon at another officer, only at herself. Her lawyers have questioned the training of the NAPD officers who responded and accused the department of “botching” its response.
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A police report tells a contradictory story. In that account, Fitzsimmons suddenly grabbed a gun while packing up her child’s belongings and pointed the weapon directly at a fellow officer. She allegedly pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire. The other officer, fearing for his own life, shot her as she loaded another round, according to the police report.
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