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Defense Opens in Bench Trial of North Andover Officer Shot by Colleague

A judge will decide the assault charge with testimony filling gaps left by missing body-camera video.

Overview

  • The defense is now presenting its case in a fast-moving bench trial before Judge Jeffrey Karp in Lawrence Superior Court.
  • Prosecutor’s key witness Patrick Noonan testified that Kelsey Fitzsimmons pointed her gun, heard a click from an empty chamber, moved to chamber a round, and he then fired two shots, hitting her once.
  • The defense argues she pulled the gun toward herself during a postpartum crisis and did not intend to shoot Noonan or her then-fiancé.
  • Evidence centers on home surveillance video because North Andover officers produced no body-camera footage from the encounter.
  • A visit to her former home is planned as part of the proceedings, which stem from a restraining-order service that ended with Fitzsimmons hospitalized and later charged.