Kelsey Fitzsimmons worked her way up to police officer. One night in June, that all changed

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Back in September, Kelsey Fitzsimmons was among five female officers recognized by the North Andover Police Department.

On National Police Women’s Day, the department lauded the women as excellent role models in the community.

“They all demonstrate leadership and a strong desire to help the citizens and visitors to the town of North Andover each and everyday,” the department shared in a Facebook post on Sept. 12, 2024, alongside a photograph of Fitzsimmons, standing at attention in her police uniform with her right hand raised.

“They are also excellent role models for the youth of our town and build lasting relationships between the department and the community,” the post said.

Fast forward to Tuesday, when a state commission announced that Fitzsimmons has been suspended as a police officer.

The suspension happened two weeks after June 30, when Fitzsimmons’ life as a police officer, and citizen, all changed.

Fitzsimmons, 28, was off-duty and on administrative leave when three of her male colleagues came to her North Andover home to serve a restraining order to her.

The order, obtained by Fitzsimmons’ fiancée and the father of their four-month-old baby, came “by surprise” in an ex-parte fashion “seeking to take the child away from her,” her attorney, Tim Bradl, said in a statement.

An armed confrontation ensued. Fitzsimmons was shot by police once in the chest in the incident on Phillips Brooks Road around 6 p.m. on June 30, according to Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker and her attorney.

“When one of the officers was escorting Ms. Fitzsimmons during the service of the court order, an armed confrontation took place,” Tucker said shortly after the shooting. “One of the standard boxes to check is the retrieval of any firearms in the home.”

Fitzsimmons, on administrative leave at the time of the shooting, was flown to a Boston hospital, Tucker said. Her condition was not known Tuesday.

Her attorney said Wednesday that Fitzsimmons was in “grave condition.”

HAPPIER TIMES

Fitzsimmons had worked her way up the ranks to become a law enforcement officer.

She began her career working part-time for the Fisher College campus police, according to her LinkedIn page. While a student, she worked security for the Boston Red Sox and also as an intern for the Methuen Police Department.

She received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Fisher College in 2020. That same year, Fitzsimmons also began study at the Massachusetts School of Law.

After college, she worked as a legal assistant at a Lawrence law firm.

In September 2021, Fitzsimmons secured her first full-time job in law enforcement, working as a correctional officer for the Essex County Sheriff’s Department for just over two years.

She began work as a full-time officer at the North Andover Police Department in November 2023, according to her LinkedIn page.

Fitzsimmons also had plans for her personal life.

She and her fiancée, North Andover firefighter Justin Aylaian, had planned a wedding in Maine for this fall, according to an online wedding registry that has since been taken down.

Several photographs of the couple had been posted to the registry site, including one of the couple smiling and showing her engagement ring.

“We wish you both a lifetime of happiness,” the North Andover Fire Department said in a Facebook post last fall, after the couple became engaged.

Their wedding date had been set for Oct. 4.

In February, she and Aylaian celebrated the birth of their child, a boy.

The couple was among several new parents connected to the North Andover Fire Department. Eight of the department’s firefighters welcomed nine babies in the past nine months, according to an online report.

“Every time someone had a kid, my (fiancée) and I would look at each other like, ‘I think it’s time, look at these families growing,’” Aylaian was quoted as saying in the report in March.

SUSPENDED, CRIMINAL CHARGES

Days after the shooting, on July 3, criminal charges were lodged against Fitzsimmons, who had been with the North Andover Police Department for over a year and a half when the shooting happened.

Fitzsimmons is facing one count of assault to murder and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, according to the clerk’s office at Lawrence District Court.

It was unclear Tuesday when Fitzsimmons would be arraigned on the charges. No date has been set for her arraignment.

This week, Fitzsimmons was suspended as a police officer by the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission.

Fitzsimmons’ suspension “is effective immediately,” Commission Executive Director Enrique Zuniga wrote in his order on Monday.

While the reason for her suspension was redacted from the document, Zuniga wrote the Commission “has received sufficient evidence” for the action.

Fitzsimmons “is hereby directed to surrender, and the Respondent’s agency is directed to collect, without delay, any agency-issued credentials and equipment that promote and support the performance of functions associated with service as a law enforcement officer,” Zuniga wrote.

This includes “any uniform, badge, firearm, assigned cruiser, and use-of-force instruments, such as tasers,” Zuniga wrote.

North Andover Police Chief Charles Gray has declined to discuss why Fitzsimmons was on leave from the department at the time of the shooting, calling it a “personnel matter.”

“It’s a critical incident, and like a lot of critical incidents the police officers deal with, we all have our own way of getting through it, whether together or by ourselves,” Gray said shortly after the shooting.

Boston 25 has reached out to Bradl, her attorney, for comment on Fitzsimmons’ suspension.

POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION

Central to this case is Fitzsimmons’ role as a new mother, and the postpartum depression she was experiencing when she was shot, her lawyer said.

“She needed help. She needed compassion,” Bradl said. “What she got instead was gunfire and now, an appalling campaign to criminalize her in order to deflect accountability from the agency responsible for this botched response.”

“Instead of de-escalation, she was met with deadly force,” Bradl said.

A spokesman for Tucker, the district attorney, would not comment further on the case on Tuesday.

Bradl said he intends “to fight these charges with every legal resource available.”

“We will demand full transparency, and follow every lead where it takes us,” Bradl said. “We will call out every contradiction and expose every lie.”

Her attorney said the shooting in late June changed Fitzsimmons’ life “in an instant.”

“She was confronted by three men from her department, and in an instant her baby, her job and her future with her fiancée were all taken from her,” Bradl said.

Tucker, in speaking to reporters after the shooting, noted the difficulties facing law enforcement officers in their line of work.

“We worry deeply about the mental health of our officers,” Tucker said at the time. “These are humans, these are police officers who have to make quick decisions. This should not go unnoticed or unappreciated by the public.”

Boston 25 News reviewed the restraining order filed by Aylaian against Fitzsimmons. It outlined allegations of domestic abuse.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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