A female cop from Massachusetts was shot by a colleague in a shocking incident that occurred during the execution of a court-issued restraining order filed by her own fiancé.
Female cop shot at her own home
The shooting took place inside her residence, where fellow officers arrived to enforce the protective order.
Kelsey Fitzsimmons, 28, an off-duty member the North Andover Police Department, was shot once on Monday night after three officers entered her home to serve the 209A abuse prevention order.
Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker announced that an “armed confrontation” occurred during the interaction, which was overseen by a department supervisor.
“When one of the officers was escorting Ms. Fitzsimmons during the service of the court order, an armed confrontation took place,” Tucker stated.
“As a result of that armed confrontation, one of the responding officers discharged their weapon, which struck Ms. Fitzsimmons once.”
The injured female cop was airlifted to a Boston hospital and remains in stable condition.
Authorities have not disclosed where she was struck, but audio from a police officer calling in the shooting said that the bullet entered Fitzsimmons’ chest and exited out through her back.
Female cop allegedly assaulted fireman fiance
According to court records, Fitzsimmons’ fiancé had claimed that she assaulted him, made threats to take their baby “far, far away, for a long, long time”, and posed a danger to their four-month-old son.
Fitzsimmons had recently become engaged to a North Andover firefighter and gave birth to their son on February 16, according to local reports.
Documents indicate that the officer had previously experienced a mental health episode in March.
Emergency personnel responded to a call about a “female having a mental health episode” at her home, after which she was briefly hospitalized and diagnosed with postpartum depression. At that time, she turned over her service weapon.
She was cleared medically and reinstated in June, regaining her license to carry.
But things took a volatile turn this week when her fiancé filed for sole custody and was granted the restraining order.
Police were there to secure her firearm
The protective order, which typically mandates the surrender of any firearms, triggered the visit from fellow officers.
“Pursuant to the court order, one of the standard boxes to check is retrieval of any firearms in the home,” Tucker said.
“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.”
The court documents also contained a note cautioning officers about the potential risk.
“Defendant is an officer with a license to carry. Plaintiff expressed concerns regarding Defendant’s reaction to being served,” read the warning.
The district attorney declined to confirm whether Fitzsimmons was armed at the time of the incident, citing the ongoing investigation.
“The very granular details, we’re waiting to speak on until we get the interviews back from our state police detectives,” he told the press.
Fitzsimmons had been with the North Andover Police Department for 18 months and was already on administrative leave at the time of the incident. She had requested the return of her firearm while on leave, according to officials.
That administrative leave will now be extended while the investigation continues.
Massachusetts State Police are conducting the inquiry in conjunction with the district attorney’s office.
Tucker acknowledged that many details are still unclear, as the department does not utilize body cameras, leaving investigators without footage of the shooting.
“There are lots of interviews to be done. There are lots of pieces to be put together. There is lots of things that remain unanswered,” he said.
North Andover Police Chief Charles Gray declined to elaborate on whether the restraining order was linked directly to Fitzsimmons’ service weapon.
“We’re concerned for all the officers, on-duty and off-duty, and we’re just going to monitor and hopefully get some results,” he stated.
