Australian police use taser on 95-year-old with dementia who held steak knife

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Police shocked a 95-year-old woman with a stun gun as she approached them using a walker and carrying a steak knife in an Australian nursing home, sending her to the hospital in critical condition after her head hit the floor.

The extraordinary police take down of Clare Nowland, who has dementia, on Wednesday prompted a high-level police internal investigation.

It also has sparked debate about how New South Wales state police use stun guns, which are widely known as tasers after a major manufacturer.

They are a less lethal option than firearms but have occasionally proved more dangerous than other policing options.

Police said Nowland received her injuries from striking her head on the floor, rather than directly from the stun gun's debilitating electric shock.

Two police officers went to Yallambee Lodge, a nursing home in the town of Cooma that specializes in residents with higher care needs including dementia after staff reported that Nowland had taken a serrated steak knife from the kitchen.

Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter declined to say whether he thought a police officer with 12 years' experience used excessive force by firing a stun gun at Nowland, who is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs 95 pounds.

Cotter said police engaged in “negotiations” with Nowland for several minutes and used the stun gun when she approached the doorway where the officers were standing.

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