
Was Kelsey Fitzsimmons trying to kill the officer who shot her, and did that officer follow proper protocol? Our policing expert weighs in. Plus a discussion of the use of body cameras, which North Andover police were not wearing during the incident.
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NBC 10 Boston Anchor
Boston news worthy of you Tonight back on the stand, the officer who shot Kelsey Fitzsimmons returns for cross examination.
Defense Attorney
So that's what you really think about Kelsey, isn't it? That she's a whack job after she
Officer Patrick Noonan
tried to kill me?
NBC 10 Boston Anchor
The officer says Fitzsimmons was trying to kill him, but did he follow proper protocol?
Officer Patrick Noonan
You meet deadly force with deadly force and that's what I'm trained to do. Stop the threat, not empty a Mac.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor
Our policing expert weighs in. Plus, this case is putting the spotlight on body cameras. None of the responding officers were wearing the devices.
Defense Attorney
I was like, what just happened?
NBC 10 Boston Reporter
He said, she pulled a gun on me.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor
The critical role body cams could have played in this case and why there's resistance to the Tech Commonwealth Confidential the Kelsey Fitzsimmons trial starts right now.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor J.C. Monahan
Day two of the Kelsey Fitzsimmons trial is in the books and we are moving closer to the prosecution resting their case. Good Evening, everyone. I'm J.C. monahan.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
I'm Glenn Jones. Today the defense cross examined the fellow officer who shot Fitzsimmons. Our Mary Marcos is outside court in Lawrence with a closer look at what we learned today.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter Mary Marcos
No bullet in the chamber. Prosecutors say that's what happened when Kelsey Fitzsimmons allegedly tried to shoot Officer Patrick Noonan.
Officer Patrick Noonan
I think I was standing in her way for her to get downstairs and killed Justin.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter Mary Marcos
But defense attorneys attacked Noonan's credibility from the start of cross examination.
Defense Attorney
He gave his opinion of Kelsey to his neighbor and that he called her a whack job. And then you can answer again, sir, what was your answer?
Officer Patrick Noonan
I don't recall.
Defense Attorney
You don't recall?
Officer Patrick Noonan
I don't.
Defense Attorney
Possible he called her a whack job to your neighbor?
Officer Patrick Noonan
It's possible.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter Mary Marcos
Timothy Bradle questioned Noonan's account of what happened, including how a highly trained SWAT officer and military veteran missed the first shot from close range, hitting an air conditioner instead.
Defense Attorney
He missed her from just a few feet away.
Officer Patrick Noonan
It's hard to shoot a moving target.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter Mary Marcos
Breidl emphasized that Fitzsimmons handed Noonan her baby right before the shooting.
Defense Attorney
She chose you to take a bottle and feed her baby, right?
Officer Patrick Noonan
That's correct.
Defense Attorney
And then this is five minutes before you say she tries to murder you, right?
Officer Patrick Noonan
That's correct.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter Mary Marcos
Another officer at the scene testified that Fitzsimmons told police all guns were in the basement and described what Noonan said moments after two shots were fired.
Officer Patrick Noonan
And he said, she pulled a gun on me.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter Mary Marcos
The judge heard limited questions about whether Noonan received special treatment afterwards.
Defense Attorney
Words. You were not drug tested by the town or the police department, correct?
Officer Patrick Noonan
No.
Defense Attorney
You get put on leave, right?
NBC 10 Boston Reporter Mary Marcos
Yes.
Defense Attorney
And yet at the same time, you're being permitted to work as a police officer on paid decals, isn't that true?
Officer Patrick Noonan
Yes.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter Mary Marcos
It's unclear if Fitzsimmons will take the stand herself, but that remains a possibility. We did learn today as well that the judge, the commonwealth, and the defense will do what's called a viewing at the home, even though it has since been sold. That is scheduled to happen Thursday morning. Reporting in Lawrence, Mary Marcos, NBC 10, Boston.
Defense Attorney
So that's what you really think about Kelsey, is it? That she's a whack job after she
Officer Patrick Noonan
tried to kill me? She's a well trained police officer
Defense Attorney
who's
Officer Patrick Noonan
a whack job who tried to kill me.
Defense Attorney
And that never panned out, right?
Officer Patrick Noonan
No, it didn't.
Defense Attorney
Because she was shot in the chest and went to the hospital for 53 days. Right.
Officer Patrick Noonan
Because she tried to kill me.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
Officer Noonan said multiple times that he thought Fitzsimmons was trying to kill him. In fact, he said it more frequently than the times you just heard. We're joined now by our panel, NBC 10 Boston Chief Legal analyst Michael Coyne and former state police trooper Todd McGee. It's good to have you here with us. All right, Michael, let's start with you. You heard that refrain there from Officer Noonan that he thought that Simmons was trying to kill him. Presumably that's what he said to the grand jury when he testified there. No defense in that room to contest what he's saying. Yet the grand jury did not indict on armed intent to murder. What do you glean from that? What does that mean exactly? And what do you think of the prosecutor's decision to prosecute on a lesser charge?
NBC 10 Boston Reporter
I think that the grand jury must have believed that her mental health struggles would have negated the idea of intent here. And so they realized, or at least they believe that there's enough evidence to charge her with the crime, but didn't want to charge her with the much more serious crime because of her other issues that are attendant with this case, that we're all relatively aware of it.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
But they did indict on the lesser charge.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter
That's correct. That's correct. Which, you know, a lot of times you do see compromise among juries, and I think in some ways, this was a look at a lesser charge that they want a jury to examine carefully, and that's actually. Now there's no jury, Ironically, the judge will examine carefully to see if she's guilty of the lesser charge.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor J.C. Monahan
Officer Noonan also repeatedly defended his decision to shoot Fitzsimmons. Take a listen.
Defense Attorney
Did you think maybe to use the Taser when she pulled the trigger and the gun didn't go off?
Officer Patrick Noonan
No. You meet deadly force with deadly force.
Defense Attorney
She's three feet away from you.
Officer Patrick Noonan
Yes.
Defense Attorney
Could have just grabbed her, couldn't you?
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
No.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor J.C. Monahan
All right, Todd, I'm going to throw this one to you. What is the training in that type of situation where an officer feels like their life is threatened? How do they defuse it? Is it. In this case, it was two shots fired.
Todd McGee (Former State Police Trooper)
The law dictates that if serious bodily injury and or death is imminent, a police officer can utilize their firearm and deploy lethal force. That's by statute. That's by training. He followed his protocols. But this isn't a tip of the, you know, a typical call for service, serving a restraining order against a fellow officer in your police department. That doesn't happen every day. Also, if you know that you're going to a house where there are weapons inside of there, perhaps there should have been some other protocols. And Michael, you said it best yesterday that we have the luxury to Monday morning quarterback to really examine are there could have been other options for the police department to take.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
All right, so Michael, we have to assume that officer Noonan is the star witness for the commonwealth. He is the victim in this case. How do you think he did on the stand? Did he help or hurt the commonwealth's case? And what about himself and his own reputation?
NBC 10 Boston Reporter
I think he helped the commonwealth. The question is, did he help them enough to get to proof beyond a
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
reasonable doubt, which is a high bar.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter
Which is a very high bar. And that's the problem we keep coming back to in this case. There's only two people who can tell us what happened in that room. We've now heard from one of the two people who obviously has some interest in making sure this story is the one that is ultimately believed. But we also have the defendant's version of the events. And that's the question that's open is will she testify? And if she's going to testify, it looks likely that will be tomorrow at this point.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor J.C. Monahan
Tana, can I we flesh out what we were just talking about for a moment? In terms of protocol, it is unusual you have officers handy and restraining over to not just another officer but a co worker. In your experience, is that typical? Would you have maybe sent another department or other officers who weren't intimately know Kelsey and then also about the way that they handled it once they got there in terms of not securing the guns, they secured the son and he was taken outside the four month old baby. But the guns were not confiscated yet.
Todd McGee (Former State Police Trooper)
In my best recognition, recognition of proper protocol, it would be to acknowledge the weapons inside the home, secure the weapons first. Could that have been a special arrangements given the special circumstances, meaning surrender the weapons down at the police department? All of those things are available to. To the police officer, to the police department to be able to take care of that in order to minimize any potential dangers. So again, that's one of those layers of this, of this case that we should be looking at quickly.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor J.C. Monahan
If you know somebody has a mental health history, a background with some issues, would you have maybe sent also somebody who specializes in that for. For what we're hearing from so many witnesses, they thought this was going to be explosive in this Moment, there are
Todd McGee (Former State Police Trooper)
best practices where clinicians will ride along with the police department to ensure that there's some type of mental health clinician that's there to be able to intervene in the event that things start going in the wrong direction. So again, another option.
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NBC 10 Boston Reporter
Oh, no. My coffee.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
Brawny here.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor
New Brawny 3 ply is now more absorbent.
Todd McGee (Former State Police Trooper)
Wow.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor J.C. Monahan
Got a clean shirt.
Todd McGee (Former State Police Trooper)
Do you wear plaid?
NBC 10 Boston Reporter
Brawny.
Todd McGee (Former State Police Trooper)
Some of the strongest that could have been available, yeah.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
All right, let's talk more about the defense's allegations that Officer Noonan received special treatment. It came up when the defense said they had information about a whistleblower. Noonan was outside the courtroom during this. Take a listen.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter
I'm trying to make sure that no witness.
Defense Attorney
That no witness's reputation is.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter
Is attacked and destroyed on an illegal issue that I end up denying.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
The defense is arguing Noonan has been rewarded for his testimony. The judge limited that section of the cross examination. So, Michael, why would the judge do that? Limit the questioning there. And he also made reference to protecting the reputation of the officer to make sure that wasn't sort of soiled in an open court. Help us through that.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter
Sure. Well, if a witness has received promises, inducements or rewards, that goes to their potential bias and that should be considered in evaluating their testimony. So that's the real question here. Was what attorney Bradle was talking about. Were there really rewards and inducements? Was he promised things in order to testify as he was trying to suggest falsely? I think the judge really struggled with. These were not the typical Types of rewards or inducements, a plea bargain or in fact a promotion we've seen in civil cases and the like, that really wasn't the case. So I think the judge wanted to tread very carefully that we don't raise these allegations and stir it up and find out that the pot is empty at the end of the day. So I think it was the correct ruling.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor J.C. Monahan
Can we talk about body cameras? There's a financial aspect to it, whether departments can have it, but is there also a pushback from unions or officers that they don't want it? What is the recipe here? Because if we had body cameras in this instance, we would know we'd be way better off. Exactly. We'd be right there and we wouldn't have a he said, she said.
Todd McGee (Former State Police Trooper)
Yeah, they certainly would glean more information for us. Typically, unions do push back on deploying body cameras. That being said, it's also an expenditure. So all the above. Gc, to your points, the real big expense is the data storage, storage, all that information over time up in the cloud. Right. That costs departments and municipalities.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
But if I just interrupt you for a second, if cost being equal, just eliminate it as a barrier in this situation, wouldn't the camera help the officer prove that what he's saying is correct? Couldn't the camera protect him 100%?
Todd McGee (Former State Police Trooper)
And that's what unions have found out, that when they did finally deploy body cams, that it was beneficial more for the officer than so much the general public.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter
And I think we're at a point on an evidentiary basis where juries want to see it and are looking for it, just like we saw with DNA and the forensic evidence that they expect that now. And if it's not there, you're going to hold it against you. And I think that's where we're at now with respect to the body cameras. People expect to see the video and when it's not there, they're a little more suspect as to how things actually
NBC 10 Boston Anchor J.C. Monahan
took place in this day and age. Yes, absolutely.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
All right, so this was also an issue today. Let's dive into a 2024 call that both Officer Noonan and Fitzsimmons responded to. Here's some of that 911 call.
NBC 10 Boston Reporter
Female Adult and a child, possibly neck bleeding, not breathing.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
Authorities say a North Andover mother killed her nine month old son, then took her own life. On the stand today, Noonan called it a horrific experience and said he reached out to Fitzsimmons following the incident.
Officer Patrick Noonan
Senior Officer she's going through a lot. I was just Trying to be there for her. And that was one horrific call.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
This was a very human moment. And I imagine officers reach out to one another when they share a traumatic experience. Has that been your experience as well while working with other officers?
Todd McGee (Former State Police Trooper)
Absolutely. There is that support system, but also there's something more formal, what we used to call the stress unit. There is a formal mechanism within the police department, either internally for the larger departments or perhaps maybe through the support system of another professional organization to provide law enforcement officers at least someone to talk to be able to discuss the trauma in the PTSD that they could be experiencing.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor J.C. Monahan
And at times, I think people do step aside.
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NBC 10 Boston Anchor J.C. Monahan
I don't know what the term is to take like a little break if they've had a moment like this and they need to process.
Todd McGee (Former State Police Trooper)
Yeah. That leave of absence is certainly part of a attached to a significant or traumatic event. And again, it's either built in contractually or a rearrangement through the administration, through the police administration and some of those line officers.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor J.C. Monahan
I'm going to throw you a really hard question, I think really quickly, but is there a possibility that no matter the outcome on this, that Noonan, the one who shot Kelsey Fitzsimmons, could be charged with anything?
NBC 10 Boston Reporter
I don't think so. I mean, the fact is that based on what we know right now, it was, at least in part, he had the ability to use the deadly force because as he testified, you're trained to meet deadly force with deadly force.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
All right, Michael Coyne, Todd McGee, thank you very much.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor J.C. Monahan
Thank you, guys.
NBC 10 Boston Anchor Glenn Jones
Be sure to tune in every weeknight of the trial at seven for a recap of the day's testimony. We're probably halfway through this. We'll have legal analysis from our team
NBC 10 Boston Anchor J.C. Monahan
of experts and you can watch the Entire trial on NBC10's YouTube channel, or you can catch it all on our sister's Facebook station, necn. And if you have any questions, please email them to commonwealth.confidentialbcuni.com Real talent is
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Podcast: The Kelsey Fitzsimmons Trial: Commonwealth Confidential
Host: NBC10 Boston
Date: March 24, 2026
Episode Focus: An in-depth recap and analysis of Day 2 in the Kelsey Fitzsimmons assault trial, exploring whether former North Andover officer Kelsey Fitzsimmons was trying to kill Officer Patrick Noonan, and the protocols, body cam absence, and legal strategies shaping the case.
Day two of the Kelsey Fitzsimmons trial centers on explosive cross-examination of Officer Patrick Noonan, who shot Fitzsimmons during a confrontation at her home. The discussion probes Noonan’s testimony, credibility, and conduct, the question of Fitzsimmons' intent, law enforcement use-of-force protocols, and the controversy surrounding the lack of body camera footage. Legal and policing experts join the panel for deep analysis of what played out in the courtroom, highlighting competing narratives and the trial's broader implications.
Credibility Attacked:
Defense attorney Timothy Bradle scrutinized Noonan's version of events and his characterization of Fitzsimmons, suggesting personal bias.
The Shooting Sequence:
Contradictory Circumstances:
Aftermath & Motive:
Decision to Use Deadly Force:
Expert Legal Commentary:
Why Only a Lesser Charge?:
Defense Asserts Preferential Treatment:
Judge Limits Cross-Examination on Rewards:
“You meet deadly force with deadly force and that's what I'm trained to do. Stop the threat, not empty a mag.”
— Officer Patrick Noonan (01:53)
“She chose you to take a bottle and feed her baby, right?”
— Defense Attorney (03:36)
“That's what you really think about Kelsey... That she's a whack job after she tried to kill me.”
— Defense Attorney and Officer Patrick Noonan (04:36–04:45)
“The grand jury must have believed that her mental health struggles would have negated the idea of intent here.”
— NBC10 Boston Reporter (05:43)
“The law dictates that if serious bodily injury and/or death is imminent, a police officer can utilize their firearm and deploy lethal force.”
— Todd McGee (07:02)
“If we had body cameras in this instance, we would know—we'd be way better off.”
— J.C. Monahan (12:59)
“Juries... expect that now. If it's not there, you're going to hold it against you.”
— NBC10 Boston Reporter (14:00)
“That was one horrific call.”
— Officer Patrick Noonan on responding with Fitzsimmons to a prior tragedy (14:54)
| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|--------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:44 | Noonan claims Fitzsimmons tried to kill him | | 03:00–03:45| Defense cross-examines Noonan, explores his views on Kelsey | | 04:02–04:17| Questions about possible special treatment for Noonan | | 06:34–06:40| Noonan explains why he used lethal force | | 07:02 | Todd McGee outlines police deadly force protocol | | 09:08–09:55| Missed opportunities for de-escalation and securing weapons | | 12:11–12:59| Analysis of alleged inducements for Noonan's testimony | | 13:18–14:00| Discussion of body camera benefits and current expectations | | 14:35–15:05| The prior traumatic call shared by Noonan and Fitzsimmons | | 16:04 | Panel: No basis for charging Noonan for the shooting |
Day two of the Kelsey Fitzsimmons trial intensifies scrutiny on protocol, intent, and credibility. The courtroom drama hinges on Officer Noonan’s repeated assertion Fitzsimmons sought to kill him, though serious doubts remain—in part due to the absence of body camera evidence. The trial also foregrounds important policy questions—about special police treatment, union resistance to body cams, and the urgent need for mental health considerations and support in police work. As the prosecution nears its rest, all eyes are on whether Fitzsimmons will testify and how the judge will parse the tangled facts and competing stories behind a tragic day in North Andover.