A North Andover police officer who was shot and injured by a fellow officer as she was being served a restraining order last month has issued a statement from her hospital bed, saying she was suffering from postpartum depression and was considering taking her own life.
Fitzsimmons, who was on leave from the department, was shot in the chest at her North Andover home on June 30. She was flown to a Boston hospital where she has undergone two surgeries.
“It is time to end the ‘PR War,’' against Fitzsimmons and ”set the record straight," Fitzsimmons’s lawyer, Timothy Bradl, said in Thursday’s statement.
Days after the shooting, Fitzsimmons was charged with armed assault to murder and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, court records show.
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She also was suspended from her position as an officer, officials said.
A spokesperson for Essex District Attorney Paul F. Tucker said in a statement that more details of the allegations will be revealed during an arraignment.
“The facts in support of the charges that were issued out of Lawrence District Court will be detailed at the arraignment in open court,” the spokesperson said in an email to the Globe.
That hearing has not yet been scheduled.
In her statement, Fitzsimmons said she was diagnosed with post partum depression in March, about three weeks after her son was born.
“I have actively been in treatment since the day of my diagnosis and was eager to heal and feel like myself again,” Fitzsimmons said. “Unfortunately, healing a sickness does not happen overnight.”
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Court records show that Fitzsimmons’ fiancé had obtained a restraining order against her because he feared she might “kill the baby at any moment.”
Fitzsimmons said she feels betrayed by “someone who I thought understood my diagnosis, loved me in sickness and in health, and was in my corner for the journey of my active treatment to get better.”
“Said person is now legally bullying me to get what they want, slandering my character, and using my diagnosis against me to make me seem like I am a monster,” Fitzsimmons’s statement said.
She said she is devastated to be apart from her baby boy.
“I would never put that angel of a child in harm’s way,” Fitzsimmons said.
On the day of the shooting, Fitzsimmons’s fiancé called and asked her to meet him at the park for a walk with the baby, her statement said.
Fitzsimmons said she waited at the park for him for nearly three hours without any additional communication.
“I went home very confused as he never showed up,” she said.
About an hour later, three North Andover police officers knocked on Fitzsimmons’s door, the statement said.
According to Fitzsimmons, they told her, “‘your fiancé has filed a restraining order against you, he will be taking your son away with no contact allowed, your firearms license that was just returned is gone again, and oh yeah, that career you worked so hard for and love, that you were just cleared to return to, that will be taken away too.’”
Fitzsimmons said she packed a bag for her son, handed him to one of the officers, and went into her bedroom.
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“In that horrible moment, I didn’t want to live after my whole world was turned upside down,” Fitzsimmons said.
“My firearm was NEVER pointed in any direction other than my temple,” Fitzsimmons’s statement said. “When I pulled the trigger, my gun did not fire. However, I immediately got shot in chest, by my colleague and friend.”
Fitzsimmons said she “was not trained to shoot a suicidal person in the chest.”
“I am facing felony charges for a halfhearted attempt to take my own life,” Fitzsimmons said.
She added, that if the North Andover Police Department used body-worn cameras, “I would not be in a position where I am wrongly accused of pointing my gun at this officer.”
Fitzsimmons said she is “extremely grateful” that God protected her from taking her own life and that she survived the officer’s bullet.
“I know I need to be on this earth for many reasons, but most importantly — my beautiful son," she said.
Fitzsimmons gave birth on Feb. 16, according to court records. On March 9, she was involuntarily committed for 12 hours for treatment of postpartum depression at Lowell General Hospital, court records show.
The next day, she surrendered her department-issued pistol and at least one privately owned gun, court records stated.
Given her hospitalization for mental health treatment, her license to carry firearms was suspended, and she was placed on administrative leave by the town on April 30, records show.
Twelve days before the shooting, on June 18, police cleared Fitzsimmons to return to work and restored her license to carry, records show.
North Andover police officials could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday evening.
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Tonya Alanez can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @talanez.