A North Andover police officer was shot at her home Monday evening, during a tense encounter with fellow officers.
The officer, 28-year-old Kelsey Fitzsimmons, is also a new mother. She was off-duty at the time of the incident.
Three police officers, including a supervisor, went to Fitzsimmons’s home to serve her a restraining order.
Highlights
- Off-duty officer and new mother Kelsey Fitzsimmons was shot during a restraining order service at her home.
- Fitzsimmons was being served a restraining order filed by her fiancé, who feared for their baby’s safety and sought custody.
- Fitzsimmons was previously diagnosed with postpartum depression and was cleared to return to duty before the incident.
An off-duty officer was shot during an encounter with fellow officers
Image credits: Facebook
The order, known as a 209A—an abuse prevention order—had been filed by her fiancé.
“When one of the officers was escorting Ms. Fitzsimmons during the service of the court order, an armed confrontation took place,” Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker told reporters at a news conference Tuesday.
According to Tucker, one of the officers discharged their weapon and shot Fitzsimmons once.
The specific details of what led to the shooting have not been released.
It’s also not clear whether Fitzsimmons was armed during the confrontation.
After the shooting, Fitzsimmons was flown by medical helicopter to a Boston hospital. As of Tuesday morning, she was in stable condition.
Officials have not said where she was shot or how long her recovery might take.
Fitzsimmons has been with the North Andover Police Department for about a year and a half.
She has a degree in criminal justice and gave birth to her son in February 2025. She got engaged to a local firefighter late last year.
Image credits: Fisher College/Facebook
She had been on administrative leave before the incident. During that time, she asked for her service weapon to be returned.
The reason for her leave was not fully explained by the police.
Court records from March show that EMTs and the police responded to her home due to a “female having a mental health episode.”
Fitzsimmons was then hospitalized for 10 hours, where she was diagnosed with postpartum depression and handed over her weapon.
She was later cleared to return to duty in June, and her license to carry was reinstated.
The restraining order was filed on Monday by her fiancé, who was concerned after Fitzsimmons allegedly struck him, threatened to take their baby, and caused him to fear for the child’s safety.
He also filed for full custody of their four-month-old son.
Court documents revealed that the police were warned that the situation could be dangerous.
The new mother was being served a restraining order filed by her fiancé
Image credits: North Andover Police Department/Facebook
“Defendant is an officer with a license to carry. Plaintiff expressed concerns regarding Defendant's reaction to being served,” said a handwritten note in the court document, according to CBS News.
The officer who fired the shot has not been identified, but has been with the department for over 20 years.
When asked if Fitzsimmons was armed during the incident, Tucker said, “The very granular details, we’re waiting to speak on until we get the interviews back from our state police detectives who are speaking with the North Andover officers that were involved.”
“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.
Tucker said many questions remain unanswered.
Investigators are still interviewing the officers involved and reviewing what happened.
“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 restraining orders, court-approved restraining orders, are sometimes some of the most dangerous duties that police officers can cover, no matter who the object of that order is.”
Tucker also noted that it was standard operating practice to retrieve any firearms while placing a restraining order.
Jeff Zeizel, a mental health clinician who works with law enforcement, said processing trauma is key to recovery.
“The more people process their feelings and deal with the trauma, the healthier they become,” Zeizel said.