Key Points
- Clare Nowland, 95, was tasered at a nursing home.
- Ms Nowland, who has dementia, collapsed and sustained critical injuries during the incident.
- Ms Nowland's family are maintaining a vigil by her hospital bed.
Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old grandmother, is fighting for her life after she was tasered by an NSW Police officer on Wednesday morning.
The incident has sparked an investigation and seen the officer taken off active duty.
Here's what we know so far.
Who is Clare Nowland?
A 95-year-old grandmother, standing about 155cm and weighing 43kg.
She was a resident of the Yallambee Lodge in Cooma — a 40-bed facility designed for people who can no longer look after themselves in their own homes, according to the website of the Snowy Monaro Regional Council, which owns and operates the facility.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said women were targeted in the Bondi Junction mass stabbing. Source: AAP / Dan Himbrechts
She has recently been suffering from dementia.
Why were police called?
Ms Nowland was found with a serrated steak knife in the early hours of Wednesday.
Staff at her nursing home called paramedics and police, who arrived in that order.
Two police officers, each with more than 10 years' of experience, activated their body cameras.
A negotiation started in a small treatment room where Ms Nowland was found. Paramedics and staff tried to "de-escalate the matter", police said.
Ms Nowland moved at a slow pace towards the doorway where the officers are standing and was hit once with a Taser.
She fell, striking her head on the ground. Medical attention was provided immediately.
According to NSW Police guidelines, an officer can use a stun gun when violent resistance is occurring or is imminent or when an officer is in danger of being overpowered.
The aftermath
Ms Nowland's family are maintaining a vigil by her hospital bed. Her condition is critical.
The officer who fired the Taser has been taken off active duty.
A critical incident investigation has been launched and elevated to "level one" because of Ms Nowland suffering an injury that could lead to her death.
The homicide squad will be involved in the investigation, Police Minister Yasmin Catley's office said.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter declined to say whether the officer might face criminal charges, saying it would breach procedural fairness.
"No officer, not one of us, is above the law and all our actions will be scrutinised robustly, from a criminal perspective as well as a departmental perspective," he said.
He said he had seen the body camera footage and agreed with a family friend it was "confronting". He has declined to release it publicly.
Yallambee Lodge near Cooma where a 95-year-old great-grandmother was tasered by police. Source: Google
"Detectives have told them there is body camera footage and that it's confronting to watch," he told the Australian Associated Press on Friday.
"It's a big family ... the commissioner might be better to be there to help them deal with it and to make an account (of police actions)."
Police initially described the incident as "an interaction" between officers and Ms Nowland, but Ms Webb on Friday stressed police understood the gravity of the situation.
"My thoughts are with the family at this difficult time," Ms Webb said.
"I understand and share the community concerns and assure you that we are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness."
NSW Council for Civil Liberties president Josh Pallas said police shouldn't be using Tasers on vulnerable people experiencing dementia or a mental health crisis.
"Surely, there must be more appropriate ways to deal with non-compliant people who are suffering."
