SALEM, Mass. — The North Andover off-duty officer who was shot in her home by a colleague serving her with a restraining order in June pointed her service firearm at the officer who struck her with one gunshot, according to police.
The service gun had been returned to her just prior to the incident as she got ready to return to work after a leave of absence.
Kelsey Fitzsimmons, 28, appeared via teleconference from her room at Massachusetts General Hospital for a dangerousness hearing and bail review in Essex County Superior Court on Thursday afternoon.
Although Judge Kathleen McCarthy-Neyman took statements into advisement, she pointed out that Fitzsimmons was dishonest about her firearms being secured in the basement. Rather, one of her guns was within arms reach in her bedroom.
McCarthy-Neyman said she considered this the “most troubling fact” for an officer who should know what it means for firearms to be in a safe place. The judge confirmed with Fitzsimmons’ lawyer that the gun she pointed was indeed hers and in the bedroom, not the basement.
On Aug. 7, Fitzsimmons was arraigned in Lawrence District Court on one count of armed assault with intent to murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
According to police and court records, on June 30, North Andover Lt. Sean Daley and officers Patrick Noonan and Timothy Houston went to Fitzsimmons’ 125 Phillips Brooks Road home at 6:02 p.m. to serve her with an abuse prevention order filed by her fiancé, North Andover firefighter Justin Aylaian, who is also the father of her baby.
Authorities say an armed confrontation took place that resulted in Fitzsimmons suffering a gunshot wound as the order was being served.
At the Thursday hearing in Salem, Fitzsimmons appeared on screen sitting upright wearing a black shirt and glasses while her family sat in the courtroom.
Her defense team, led by attorney Timothy Bradl and joined by former state Attorney General Martha Coakley, appealed last week’s bail decision ordered in Lawrence District Court.
At the Aug. 7 hearing, Lawrence Judge Carol-Ann Fraser deemed Fitzsimmons a danger to herself and the public and ordered her committed without bail.
Fraser stated she would revisit her order if a suitable release plan was presented that would ensure the safety of the community.
The court order allows Fitzsimmons to remain in the hospital to receive medical treatment, according to a statement issued by Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker.
During Thursday’s hearing, Bradl argued that four medical clinicians have cleared her to be released from the hospital under a plan and under a Section 87 finding that she would agree to whatever terms the court sees fit.
Assistant District Attorney James Gubitose said she should not be released on bail based on her history and actions June 30, adding that Fitzsimmons is a danger not only to herself, but also to her six-month-old child and the community at large.
“A doctor cleared her already and this is what happened,” Gubitose said, adding she was given her gun back because of the clearance. “She ended up using that service weapon to shoot to try to kill a fellow officer.”
Police allege Fitzsimmons pulled the trigger of her gun but that it didn’t go off.
Gubitose said now another doctor has cleared her, saying she is not a danger. But based on allegations made in court papers, Fitzsimmons has a “violent temper,” and did even before giving birth, he said.
Bradl said Fitzsimmons suffered from an acute transient psychological crisis the evening she was shot while she was also suffering from postpartum depression. He argued the situation is “a ‘he-said, she-said’ with no body cameras.”
Her lawyer added she was evaluated Aug. 8 and 10 at Mass. General and did not fit criteria to be held in a Section 12, or deemed as a danger. A Section 12 is an involuntary commitment for mental health evaluation.
He argued it was imperative she be reunited with her child, who she has had zero contact with since the shooting. Bradl proposed a release plan once she gets her chest tube removed. The plan includes weekly one-on-one therapy, regular visits to MGH and living in Methuen with her family.
“She’s probably a few days away from physical discharge,” Bradl said.
Gubitose detailed how Fitzsimmons had a child in February and voluntarily admitted herself to Lawrence General Hospital for mental health treatment in March.
He noted Fitzsimmons was on administrative leave after the hospital staff cited Section 12 and had her committed for mental health treatment.
He said leading up to June 30, Fitzsimmons had been doing what she needed to do to return to work, was cleared by a doctor and given back her service weapon.
Over the weekend prior to the shooting, she was in Maine with her fiance which led to him filing a restraining order and affidavit, Gubitose said.
As part of the restraining order, Fitzsimmons was to relinquish all of her firearms, which included one service-issued weapon and two firearms registered to her. She was also to turn over her baby.
Gubitose said the officers who went to her house to issue the restraining order reportedly asked her where her weapons were in the house. The officers reported Fitzsimmons told them they were all in the basement.
“Turns out they weren’t,” Gubitose said. “That was a lie.”
He said that based on police reports, Officer Patrick Noonan was left alone upstairs with Fitzsimmons when her fiance arrived at the house. Noonan was allegedly just outside of her bedroom door as she gathered clothing for her baby when she lunged behind the door frame and got her service weapon.
“Luckily there was no round in the chamber,” Gubitose said.
The weapon clicked and she tried to rerack the chamber with a round of ammunition while Noonan told her not to, he reported. Noonan fired one round that missed and another which struck her in the chest. Fitzsimmons was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital for care.
Bradl said that earlier on the day of June 30, Fitzsimmons was told to meet Aylaian in a park to try to work out their problems. Bradl said she was “elated,” but her fiance never showed as it “turns out he was here (Essex Probate Court) getting an affidavit.”
After the hearing Bradl said he believed the child was in the care of Aylaian and his family.