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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.
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From courts, critics and his own party, Donald Trump runs smack into reality
President Trump hasn’t had a great week. I don’t think anyone can argue with that.
The man who has so utterly dominated the Republican Party has been forced to backtrack or reverse himself, in part because of on-the-record outrage by GOP lawmakers.
That involved his plan to create a $1.8-billion “anti-weaponization” fund, with most of it going to Jan. 6 rioters, who he calls patriots. The idea of rewarding people who attacked police officers, took over members’ quarters and chanted “Hang Mike Pence!” touched a very deep nerve (among the public as well).
When leaders of his own party, who usually roll over and play dead, started denouncing what some of them called a slush fund, Trump knew he had a loser on his hands and yesterday tried to cut his losses: He has officially killed the funding scheme.
This, of course, grew out of his suit against the IRS, where Trump was definitely wronged by the leaking of his tax returns, but as president was “negotiating” with his subordinates.
Then there are the courts, where even the Supreme Court has not escaped Trump’s wrath on decisions he dislikes, such as striking down his unilateral global tariffs. He called out justices by name, branding them “fools and lapdogs,” a “disgrace” and an “embarrassment.”
Which brings us to the Kennedy Center fiasco.
A federal judge ordered that Trump’s name be removed from the glittering marble portico overlooking the Potomac River that had just been the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The judge temporarily blocked the two-year shutdown planned to begin this summer.
The president posted that unless he was in charge, he had “no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey,” suggesting he would turn it over to Congress.
“Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of, much as I have done, in many cases, throughout my life,” he wrote.
Judge Christopher Cooper, setting a two-week deadline, said Trump’s renaming violated a 1964 law that made it “crystal clear” the institution was to be named for the assassinated president and that only Congress can change it.
I happen to think the center could remain open while partial refurbishing takes place, but of course no shows are booked at the moment.
The larger pattern is that many judges no longer trust the administration’s lawyers.
“Their missteps in court come as the department’s leadership takes an unusually combative tone with judges who rule against them,” The New York Times says.
A Trump Justice Department spokesperson said: “Any attack on the professionalism or integrity of DOJ attorneys is outrageous and unjustified.”
Finally, there is the court of public opinion for Trump, who turns 80 next month.
A lot of folks are upset about the design of the $250 bill featuring Trump’s visage. I don’t worry about that because I don’t plan on buying anything with a $250 note, but it hasn’t gone down well.
I don’t believe many people are wild about the surprise demolition of the East Wing, plans for a 250-foot arch, or the obsession with building a White House ballroom. That was originally going to be paid for by private donations, but now Congress wants to appropriate $1 billion in taxpayer dollars — kind of bait and switch.
The Iran War, whose settlement “talks” have been blown up by mutual attacks, is increasingly unpopular. A PBS/Marist poll last month found that 60 percent of those questioned disapprove of the war and overall are frustrated by soaring food and gas costs.
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As for the July 4 celebration, so many musicians, including Milli Vanilli, Flo Rida and Young MC, dropped out that the president canceled the concert and will turn it into a MAGA rally featuring … him.
Look, Donald Trump has always been at the center of his own narrative. He’s a born performer, dating back to “The Apprentice” days.
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I’ve interviewed Trump numerous times, and he can sit for an hour and rattle off answers on a vast array of subjects, including stuff from 40 years ago. So any talk that he’s on the verge of dementia is utter BS by uninformed critics. But he does seem less sure-footed right now.
Physically, the worst you can say about Trump is that he’s got swollen ankles and sometimes closes his eyes in meetings.
Trump is full speed ahead — that’s what he knows. Where he comes off as angry and overheated is in the barrage of late-night and early-morning Truth Social posts in which he rails against his opponents.
Hey, you don’t really expect an 80-year-old man to change, do you?
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Hilton, Becerra, in the lead with votes still being counted in battle for California governor
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA – Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra were leading in unofficial early returns Wednesday morning and appeared positioned to advance to the November California gubernatorial election in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in steering the nation’s most populous state and one of the world’s largest economies.
Hilton, a one-time British political strategist turned American conservative commentator and former Fox News Channel host who is backed by President Donald Trump, and Becerra, a former California attorney general who later served as a Cabinet secretary in former President Biden’s administration, were in the lead early Wednesday morning, with votes still being counted and results not yet certified.
“Change is coming to California, and it’s long overdue,” Hilton told supporters at his primary night watch party in Orange County.
Hilton, in an exclusive Fox News Digital interview following his speech, said speaking “honest, simple truths” to voters boosted his campaign. “Everything is too expensive in California. We’re going to cut people’s costs,” he pledged.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST PRIMARY RESULTS FROM FOX NEWS
Becerra, who, if elected in November, would make history as California’s first Latino governor since Romualdo Pacheco briefly served in 1875, told supporters that his campaign’s success is “more than a Hollywood ending. More than a milestone. That’s the everyday miracle of living in a state that makes the improbable seem inevitable. And I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Democrat-dominated California holds what’s known as a jungle primary in which all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, appear on the same ballot, with the top two finishers advancing to the general election.
Tom Steyer, a billionaire hedge fund founder turned environmental activist who unsuccessfully ran for his party’s 2020 presidential nomination and who has shelled out over $200 million of his own money in his bid for governor, was in third place as the results continued to be tabulated and as additional mail and provisional ballots remained to be counted.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, as well as Democratic candidates former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, were also among the whopping 61 candidates on the ballot.
Hilton is hoping to become the first California Republican to win a gubernatorial election since then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election.
In his speech, Hilton showed off the lining of his blazer, with American and California flags, that he said Schwarzenegger a few years ago urged him to wear. “Arnold, I did that for you,” Hilton said.
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Former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla mulled launching Democratic bids for governor, but both last year announced they would take a pass. That resulted in the lack of a clear Golden State gubernatorial frontrunner for the first time in more than a quarter-century.
And the race was overshadowed for much of last year, as the devastation from the Los Angeles-area wildfires and President Donald Trump’s immigration raids grabbed headlines in California.
But the showdown for governor entered the spotlight earlier this year when one of the leading candidates, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, dropped out of the race and then resigned from Congress after facing multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct that he continues to deny.
Swalwell’s exit from the race opened the door for first Steyer and then Becerra to rise in the polls.
Steyer, who unsuccessfully ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, spent more than $200 million of his own money to blanket the airwaves and the internet with ads. Meanwhile, more than $80 million in outside money has also been spent on the race.
Bianco, who launched his campaign for governor in April of last year, was among the top contenders in the race until Trump’s endorsement of Hilton in early April appeared to blunt his momentum.
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