By Charlie McKenna
masslive.com
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Former North Andover police officer Kelsey Fitzsimmons, who was shot in the chest last summer by a colleague serving her a restraining order, was acquitted of a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon on Thursday.
Fitzsimmons, 29, was accused of pointing a gun at a fellow officer on June 30, 2025, while he was serving her a restraining order taken out by her then-fiancé, Justin Aylaian, and trying to fire it. Fitzsimmons maintained she tried to take her own life.
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Judge Jeffrey T. Karp heard three days of testimony before returning the verdict. The lawyers delivered their closing arguments Thursday morning.
Karp deliberated for about two hours and fifteen minutes on Thursday before announcing he had come to a verdict. Before reading the verdict, he told the audience to leave the courtroom if they felt they could not restrain themselves from reacting once he read his verdict.
“This has been one of the more exhausting, hardest things I’ve had to do,” he said. “As a judge. As an attorney.”
Karp said he found the testimony of both Noonan and Fitzsimmons credible, which he said was “confusing.”
Ultimately, the judge said he was left with a reasonable doubt about what happened and must acquit Fitzsimmons.
Fitzsimmons’ family sat just behind her in the courtroom in the front row of the audience. Her mother and stepfather held hands while they awaited the decision.
Noonan, the officer who shot Fitzsimmons, was also seated in the front row.
Many other North Andover police officials also filled the courtroom, including officer Timothy Houston, who was one of the officers serving Fitzsimmons the restraining order. The town’s police chief was in the courtroom for closing arguments.
Fitzsimmons waived her right to a jury trial, opting instead to have Karp determine whether she was guilty or not guilty.
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