By Grace Zokovitch, Rick Sobey
Boston Herald
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — An off-duty North Andover cop was shot by a fellow officer during an armed incident while she was being served a restraining order Monday evening.
“We’re all looking for answers,” Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker said Tuesday.
“The public had lots of questions, but we thought that everyone would be better served by getting as many preliminary facts as we could, and then putting it out today, obviously with an eye to it as being as transparent as we can, given the circumstances,” he continued.
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At 6 p.m. Monday night, Tucker said, three North Andover police officers, including a supervisor, were dispatched to Phillips Brooks Road in North Andover to serve a restraining order.
The subject of the order was Kelsey Fitzsimmons, 28, a North Andover cop on administrative leave.
“When one of the officers was escorting Ms. Fitzsimmons during the service of the court order, an armed confrontation took place,” said Tucker. “As a result of that armed confrontation, one of the responding officers discharged their weapon, which struck Ms. Fitzsimmons .”
The off-duty cop was given medical care at the scene and flown to a Boston hospital, the DA said. As of Tuesday morning, she was in stable condition.
Tucker noted that “lots of things that remain unanswered” regarding the confrontation. He said that the restraining order called for all firearms to be taken from the house.
Investigators are not currently able to say how many people outside of the police were in the house during the incident and who they were, Tucker said. The DA said they are currently seeking camera footage, though none has been located yet, and are waiting on interview reports.
Officials declined to comment on Fitzsimmons mental health at the time of the incident Tuesday, as well as a potential incident prior to the shooting Monday.
“We’re concerned for all the officers on duty and off duty, and we’re just going to monitor and hopefully get some results,” said North Andover Police Chief Charles Gray.
The officer who shot Fitzsimmons is a “veteran cop” with over 20 years with the department, Tucker said.
Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the DA’s office are currently conducting the investigation into the incident.
Tucker did not state what charges may be brought in this case but said they, “will fit what took place here.”
In regards to her status with the North Andover Police Department , the DA said her leave “obviously is now going to be extended” and the department would look into appropriate actions.
“For now, we want to make sure that the people of North Andover and across the Commonwealth know as much as we can give out at this time being as transparent as we can,” Tucker said. “We also know that serving court approved restraining orders are sometimes some of the most dangerous duties that police officers encounter, no matter who the subject of that order is.”
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