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Judge lets ex-police officer walk after she denied pointing gun at fellow cop who shot her in home standoff
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
A former Massachusetts police officer has been found not guilty of attempting to shoot a brother in blue after she testified she was trying to kill herself as officers arrived at her home to serve a restraining order filed by her ex-fiancé.
Kelsey Fitzsimmons, a 29-year-old former North Andover police officer, went to trial after she was charged with a single count of assault with a dangerous weapon after prosecutors alleged she pointed a gun at a fellow officer, Patrick Noonan, and attempted to fire it on June 25, 2025.
However, Fitzsimmons vehemently denied the allegations, instead insisting she was attempting to kill herself when officers arrived at her home to serve a restraining order obtained by her fiancé, Justin Aylaian, and take custody of her young child.
“I didn’t want to involve anybody. I wanted to take my own life,” she said earlier this week. “I never pointed the gun at a fellow police officer. It never happened.”
The verdict was handed down by Judge Jeffrey Karp after nearly four hours of deliberations on Thursday, according to WCVB.
Karp decided the case because Fitzsimmons reportedly waived her right to a trial by jury.
“I think that Ms. Fitzsimmons, Officer Noonan and all the people involved in the tragic events of June 30, 2025, deserve an explanation,” Karp said before delivering his decision, according to WCVB.
“I am left with a reasonable doubt, and I am duty-bound to find that the Commonwealth has not met its burden to prove that Ms. Fitzsimmons committed an assault by means of a dangerous weapon,” he said. “My verdict is, and must be, not guilty.”
Karp added he found no evidence Fitzsimmons had been the victim of a conspiracy.
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“I saw no evidence of a conspiracy in this case. What I saw was dedicated public servants, like Officer Noonan and his fellow officers, doing the best they could under rapidly evolving, emotional circumstances,” Karp said.
Fitzsimmons was shot by Noonan after allegedly pointing a gun at him and was later arrested and arraigned on one count of armed assault with intent to murder and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.
She was indicted in Essex Superior Court, but a grand jury ultimately chose to maintain just one count of assault with a dangerous weapon.
Upon taking the stand Wednesday, Fitzsimmons recalled the moment she was shot by Noonan.
“I went into like a huge adrenaline shock. It didn’t feel like normal pain. It almost felt like absent pain, but it felt like my entire body was burning, and I was completely alert, completely awake the whole time,” Fitzsimmons said.
“I was speaking as much as I could. My lung was punctured, so that’s why I was having trouble breathing, but other than that, I was very alert and aware of my surroundings.”
Immediately after the shooting, Fitzsimmons reportedly said the fire department and additional resources transported her from her home to a hospital, where she repeatedly told them she “wanted to die” after authorities arrived to serve the restraining order and take custody of her 4-month-old child.
“They brought me outside, and I think when I was still in my house, one of the firefighters was trying to put oxygen on my face, and I was taking it off and just saying, ‘I want to die, I want to die, I want to die.'”
In closing statements, defense attorney Tim Bradl pointed to the possibility that Noonan made the decision to shoot Fitzsimmons too quickly, according to the outlet.
“He’s the only one with the Rambo story,” Bradl said. “Everyone else has what Kelsey says. He walks into a suicide in progress. He sees it. He reacts. ‘Kelsey no, Kelsey no.’ Bam. Bam. Brain freeze. Mistake. He has to cover it up.”
However, prosecuting attorney James Gubitose reportedly held up Fitzsimmons’ empty gun during his closing, insisting that evidence contradicted Fitzsimmons’ testimony while praising Noonan’s police training.
“It’s impossible to have happened the way she said it,” Gubitose said. “It is scientifically, mechanically impossible for it to happen the way she said.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Essex County District Attorney’s Office added that the indictment “was brought in good faith, supported by credible police testimony and corroborated by the physical evidence,” and “while respecting the judge’s verdict, we disagree.”
“We also commend the professionalism and civility of prosecutors involved in this highly public and emotionally charged case as well as this being an instance of police officers acting to the best of their ability during a tragic and rapidly evolving incident. The work of police officers, particularly in cases involving restraining orders, is extremely dangerous, and I recognize their dedication, courage and willingness to serve.”
Fitzsimmons’ attorney did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
California’s sanctuary law is under fire yet again after a notorious MS-13 machete-wielding gangster known as “the witch” has been nabbed for the second time in the state after being caught and released during the Biden administration in 2023.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in San Diego have arrested David Antonio Aviles Perez, 35, who is wanted in El Salvador for aggravated murder. He was first arrested and released in Monterey, California, in 2023 on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly swinging a machete at a man.
“ICE arrested this dangerous criminal illegal alien and MS-13 gang member wanted in El Salvador for murder,” Acting Assistant Department of Homeland Secretary (DHS) Lauren Bis wrote in a statement last week.
“Gavin Newsom’s sanctuary policies allowed this gang member to be released from jail after his arrest for assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance, and petty theft.”
ICE netted one of El Salvador’s most notorious executioners in the same week DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin was sworn in by President Donald Trump.
Aviles Perez is being held pending removal to El Salvador, a contrast to his Biden administration release as an illegal alien alleged to have threatened a California man with a machete in 2023.
The case has intensified criticism from federal officials of California’s sanctuary law under Newsom, which limits local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
“Releasing this gang member back into California neighborhoods put American lives at risk,” Bis’ statement concluded. “Thanks to President Trump and Secretary Mullin, this murderer is off our streets and will soon be out of our country.”
El Salvador had sentenced Aviles Perez, known as “la bruja” (“the witch”), to 20 years in prison for a 2014 gang killing, according to the Salvadoran prosecution’s indictment from December, which reported he was alleged to have “shot the victim in the chest, back, and face” and was a known MS-13 gang member.
Aviles Perez’s criminal violence reportedly continued in California in 2023 after crossing the border at an unknown date. He was alleged to have “swung a machete” at a homeless man at Laguna Grande Park near Monterey State Beach and “hid the machete which was later recovered in the Holiday Inn parking lot,” according to the report.
He was charged and convicted before being released back onto the streets.
In the year since the president’s so-called ‘liberation day,’ American families have paid more than $1,700 and counting in higher costs as a result of his tariffs. On top of the higher prices consumers are paying, tariffs have caused significant and lasting harm to American businesses across the country.
From craft breweries in Ohio to innovative, inventor-driven companies in Minnesota — these reckless tariffs have raised costs, closed off customers and threatened the viability of these businesses themselves.
Farming, a cornerstone of our economy, is acutely suffering. Across America’s heartland, tariffs are jacking up the cost of businesses for our farmers, with machinery, fertilizer and other input costs all rising with no relief in sight. Moreover, farmers are losing customers, with losses totaling $34 billion and counting.
To be blunt, name a part of our economy, and it’s being hurt by President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
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Make no mistake: House Republicans are just as responsible for this economic catastrophe as the White House is. Instead of doing their job and putting a stop to them, House Republicans continue to rubber-stamp Trump’s shortsighted and reckless policy.
When the Supreme Court ruled many of the sweeping tariffs to be illegal, instead of calling for refunds to Americans who paid these illegal taxes, congressional Republicans are just sitting idly by while Trump tries to implement new, price-spiking tariffs!
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It all speaks to a larger message that Republicans are sending to the American people. They don’t work for you. They only work for Trump.
It’s a tone-deaf message that will cost them the House majority. Affordability will be a defining issue this election. Everything is too expensive, and the public is angry. In the year they’ve controlled Washington, Republicans have advanced an agenda that has only raised prices on working families.
Voters have a clear choice before them at the ballot box: a vote for Republicans will mean more tariffs and higher costs, while a vote for Democrats will mean holding Republicans accountable for their broken promises and awful economy.
Democrats have the winning message: we want to roll back these damaging tariffs, push for policies that encourage America’s businesses to expand their domestic manufacturing footprint, and support our farmers by passing common-sense policies to help reduce costs and expand their market opportunities. Every day between now and the midterms, we look forward to engaging communities across the country about our forward-looking vision.
Passengers screamed and pleaded to “turn around” as flames shot from an engine of a Delta Air Lines aircraft moments after takeoff, forcing the flight bound for Atlanta to make a rapid return to São Paulo, Brazil.
Delta Flight 104, an Airbus A330-300 carrying 272 passengers and 14 crew, had just departed São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport on Sunday when a mechanical problem struck its left engine, the airline confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Videos recorded by passengers show sparks and bursts of flame coming from the engine, lighting up the night sky as the aircraft gained altitude.
“Turn around!” passengers can be heard shouting.
Pilots declared an emergency, shut down the affected engine and circled back to the airport, landing safely shortly after departure.
Airport Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) teams were standing by on the runway and video showed crew spraying down the aircraft.
Video from inside the cabin shows passengers erupting into cheers and applause, some shouting in relief after the aircraft came to a stop.
No injuries were reported. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration for additional information.
Delta said the flight returned “following an indication of a mechanical issue with the aircraft’s left engine” and that the crew followed established procedures.
Passengers were taken back to the terminal and later rebooked.
“The safety of our customers and crew is our highest priority. We apologize to our customers for this delay in their travels,” the airline said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Passengers screamed ‘turn around’ as flames shot from Delta jet engine moments after takeoff
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