Nursing home resident (95) dies week after being tasered by officer | Abroad

The staff of Yallambee Lodge in Cooma (over a hundred kilometers south of the capital Canberra; editor’s note) called the police on the night of May 16 to 17 because of the threat posed by Nowland. The woman had smuggled a serrated steak knife from the kitchen and hadn’t wanted to hand it over for hours.

Two officers arrived on scene to defuse the situation. However, it was not possible to start a conversation, on the contrary: Nowland started to approach them. “It is fair to say that her pace was rather slow, because she used a walker. On the other hand, she did have a weapon with that knife,” Deputy Commissioner Peter Cotter said at a press conference.

According to a family friend, Nowland suffered two shocks, in the chest and back. As a result, she fell on her head, resulting in a fractured skull and a severe cerebral hemorrhage.

Kristian White (33) was now suspected of using his taser. He was also suspended, but is allowed to keep his salary for the time being. According to New South Wales Police guidelines, a taser may only be used on elderly people or people with disabilities in “exceptional circumstances”.

“Nowland passed away peacefully in hospital surrounded by her loved ones and family,” police said in a statement. The woman was very frail and could not stand up without help. She weighed 43 kilograms and was only 1.58 meters tall. In addition, she suffered from dementia. The confrontation was filmed with a bodycam, but those images have not been made public (for the time being).

Nowland had been living in the care home for more than five years. The great-grandmother is a local celebrity. In 2008 she celebrated her eightieth birthday with a skydive over Canberra.