Kelsey Fitzsimmons Trial Begins: Officer's Testimony and a Defense That Says She Never Pointed the Gun at Him

Day One of the Kelsey Fitzsimmons trial is in the books, and the testimony, the arguments, and the courtroom confrontations that unfolded Monday in Lawrence, Massachusetts set up what is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched criminal trials in New England this year.

Fitzsimmons, a 29-year-old North Andover police officer, is charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. The charge stems from a June 30, 2025 encounter at her home, where fellow officer Patrick Noonan shot her in the chest while serving a restraining order obtained by her then-fiancé, North Andover firefighter Justin Aylaian. The order handed Aylaian emergency custody of their four-month-old son and required Fitzsimmons to immediately surrender her firearms. Fitzsimmons has pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution told Judge Jeffrey Karp that Fitzsimmons grabbed her service weapon, aimed it at Noonan's face, pulled the trigger — and survived only because the gun had no round in the chamber. She then performed a tap rack, successfully loaded a round, and raised the weapon a second time. Noonan fired twice. One shot struck her in the chest.

The defense told the judge none of that is accurate. Fitzsimmons was in crisis — diagnosed with postpartum depression months before the shooting, previously hospitalized, and facing the loss of her child and her career in a single afternoon. She reached for that gun to harm herself, not Noonan. The weapon, Bradl argued, was at her own temple. Its location when she fell — under her leg — is physical evidence that it was never raised toward Noonan. And Noonan's words in those seconds, "Kelsey, no," are not what you say, Bradl argued, when a gun is aimed at your face.

Noonan testified Monday on direct and faces cross-examination Tuesday. Aylaian also testified, and the defense used cross to establish he is currently on administrative leave from the fire department following conduct allegations. Fitzsimmons waived her right to a jury. Judge Karp decides this case alone.

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