In a raw and defiant move that has sent shockwaves through law enforcement circles, former North Andover police officer Kelsey Fitzsimmons has publicly shared a graphic image of her exit wound after being shot in the chest by one of her own colleagues. Just days after being acquitted of assaulting a fellow officer, the 29-year-old is now preparing to file a civil lawsuit against the town of North Andover and its police department, accusing them of “institutional deliberate indifference” that nearly cost her life.
The dramatic incident unfolded in June 2025 at Fitzsimmons’ own home. Three officers from the North Andover Police Department, including Officer Patrick Noonan, arrived to serve her with a restraining order filed by her ex-fiancé, Justin Aylaian. The order sought to remove her infant son from her custody. At the time, Fitzsimmons was battling severe postpartum depression following the birth of her child just months earlier. What should have been a routine civil matter quickly turned into a life-threatening confrontation.
According to court testimony, Fitzsimmons pulled out her service weapon. She has consistently maintained that she only intended to harm herself. However, Noonan claimed she pointed the gun directly at him. He said he heard a distinct “click” noise and watched as she “tap racked” the weapon twice in an attempt to chamber a round. Without hesitation, Noonan fired two rounds. One bullet tore through her chest, puncturing her lung, and exited her back less than an inch from her spine. The force was so intense that Fitzsimmons later described it in a podcast interview as “a heavy force that burned the whole inside of my body.”
She spent more than 50 days in the hospital and underwent five separate surgeries. The physical and emotional scars run deep. Last week, on March 26, 2026, a judge presiding over a bench trial found Fitzsimmons not guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon. The acquittal came after the defense successfully argued reasonable doubt, with Fitzsimmons insisting her actions stemmed from a suicide attempt amid overwhelming mental health struggles rather than any intent to harm others.
Emboldened by the verdict, Fitzsimmons took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a disturbing close-up photo of her exit wound. She captioned it simply: “This is my exit wound. An inch from my spine.” The image, which she posted in response to what many called a heartless comment from the North Andover Police Department’s Facebook page, has fueled intense public debate. The department had reportedly commented “In other shocking news!” on an article about her situation. Town officials later claimed the post was made by a former employee who still had access to the page, but the damage was done.
Fitzsimmons’ attorney, Tim Bradl, wasted no time firing back. “Thank you NAPD for confirming your institutional deliberate indifference… See you in Court,” he wrote. On April 3, 2026, Fitzsimmons and her legal team plan to file presentment letters — the required first step before launching a full civil lawsuit against the town. The suit is expected to focus on negligence, civil rights violations, and the highly questionable decision to send three of her own colleagues to serve the restraining order at her home while she was known to be in a fragile mental state.
Critics have raised serious questions about departmental protocol. Why were fellow officers tasked with delivering such a sensitive order to one of their own? Why was there apparently no mental health support or de-escalation plan in place? Fitzsimmons herself expressed deep frustration in an interview, asking pointedly, “What is my life worth to you?”
The case has exposed painful realities about mental health support within police departments, especially for female officers dealing with postpartum depression. Many observers argue that the entire response was mishandled from the start, turning a welfare check into a near-fatal shooting. Supporters of Fitzsimmons see her as a victim of both personal crisis and systemic failure, while some within law enforcement circles defend Noonan’s split-second decision under perceived threat.
As Fitzsimmons prepares her civil action, the graphic image she shared continues to circulate online, serving as a stark visual reminder of how quickly a domestic situation involving police can spiral out of control. Her story raises uncomfortable questions about accountability, officer wellness, and the thin line between protection and peril when those sworn to serve turn their weapons on one another.
With the lawsuit looming, North Andover faces potentially expensive and embarrassing legal scrutiny. For Kelsey Fitzsimmons, the battle is far from over. Having survived a bullet that came dangerously close to her spine, she is now determined to hold the system responsible for what she calls a “horrible” handling of her crisis. Whether the courts will side with her remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: this former officer refuses to stay silent about the day her own department nearly ended her life.
