Former Massachusetts police officer Kelsey Fitzsimmons is accused of assaulting her fellow officer and recently waived her right to a jury trial, allowing a judge to decide her fate. The 29-year-old mother has been charged with assault after allegedly pointing a gun at another officer who was serving her with a restraining order at her home.

The Alleged Assault

Fitzsimmons and the other officer served at the North Andover Police Department at the time the incident occurred. On June 30, 2025, the other officer arrived at Fitzsimmons’ home to serve her a restraining order from her fiancé and found the defendant with a gun. Police also intended to take custody of her then four-month-old son.

Fitzsimmons pleaded not guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon and has continued to state throughout case filings that she had no intention of harming the other officer, but was planning to turn the gun on herself. Before she had a chance to pull the trigger, the other officer fired his gun at her, shooting her in the chest. 

Pretrial Hearing

Fitzsimmons took the stand during her final pretrial hearing on Wednesday in a Lawrence courtroom to discuss waiving a jury trial. “Do you now willingly and voluntarily waive your right to have a jury decide your case and instead choose to have a judge, that being me, decide whether you are guilty or not guilty?” Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Karp asked.

“Yes,” she responded, admitting she did not want to be judged by a jury of her peers. Judge Karp accepted her request and will issue a verdict himself at the end of the case.

Jury selection was scheduled to begin on Monday, March 23, 2026, but instead, both sides will deliver opening statements. Judge Karp warned that he expects the case to go through Friday. As Fitzsimmons left the courthouse, she said she “made a good decision,” CBS News reported. 

“I chose the judge to be the fact-finder in the case,” she said. “I think that just makes the most sense in my case.”

“I’m eager. I’ve said from the very beginning the truth will come out. And it will,” she said.

Bench Trials

WBZ-TV legal analyst Jennifer Roman was asked why Fitzsimmons might choose a bench trial over her constitutional right to a trial by a jury of her peers. Besides the fact that Fitzsimmons did not want to be judged by anyone else, Roman said bench trials tend to be faster and are less likely to include biased decisions due to media coverage.

“The other strategy consideration here is that her and her defense team clearly think that a judge will be more understanding and perhaps even sympathetic to the theories of the case that they’re putting forward as opposed to a jury who may not be as understanding or sympathetic of the issues that they’re going to be raising and the theories they’re going to be raising,” Roman said.

The Allegations

Prosecutors allege that Fitzsimmons pulled the trigger that day when the fellow officer stopped by. They say she did not attempt, but did, and the gun did not fire because it was not loaded. The other officer shot her in the chest as a means of self-defense.

However, Fitzsimmons argues back that she had turned the gun on herself and did not point it at the officer. She was battling postpartum depression (PPD) and intended to take her own life. Just a few months prior, in March 2025, she gave birth to her baby boy and suffered severe PPD. Her then-fiancé sought a restraining order against her for the safety of their child and her, according to prosecutors. 

The firefighter and former fiancé won custody of their child as Fitzsimmons recovered in the hospital from a collapsed lung for weeks before being taken into police custody. She has since been released as she awaits trial. 

Returning to Normalcy

Last week, Judge Karp ruled that Fitzsimmons could move into an apartment and begin the process of regaining custody of her son. “A lot of my life was put on pause unexpectedly. So I am looking forward to getting back into everything. Most importantly, being a parent and a mom to my son,” she said outside the courthouse. 

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.