95-year-old tasered: Who is the cop who fired on great grandmother Clare Nowland?
Who is the cop who tasered the 95-year-old great-grandmother? What we know about a ‘veteran’ cop who opened fire on a demented man as she shuffled toward him with her walker
- Clare Nowland, 95, was tasered by police in Cooma, NSW
- Police officer resigned while the incident is being investigated
- Bodycam footage described as ‘confrontational’
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The officer who tasered a 95-year-old great-grandmother who used a walker and clung to life is a veteran officer with more than a decade of experience.
Clare Nowland, a dementia sufferer, was tasered by the senior constable at 4 a.m. Wednesday as she slowly approached a squad of officers “armed” with a steak knife at the Yallambee Lodge retirement home near Cooma, in the NSW Snowy Mountains.
At a press conference on Friday, Deputy Commissioner Peter Cotter confirmed that the taser had been fired once and that Ms Nowland had hit her head after falling to the ground.
The officer in question has resigned while the investigation is ongoing.
Clare Nowland, who suffers from dementia, was injured during ‘an interaction’ with officers at Yallambee Lodge near Cooma
Police officers were called to the nursing home (pictured) after being told she had a kitchen knife. Ms Nowland was tasered while standing next to her walker
Gloomy NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Cotter said the officer was a 12-year veteran of the Force and has resigned
Asst Comm Cotter said the highest level of investigation was initiated by the NSW Homicide Squad.
He suggested that Ms Nowland’s case be treated as if she could soon be dead. A family representative told Daily Mail Australia that she received end-of-life care.
Mr Cotter said he had viewed bodycam footage of the incident and admitted it was ‘confrontational footage’ – but officers are refusing to release it.
He revealed that the officer who tasered Ms. Nowland was a 12-year veteran of the Force. Mr Cotter has temporarily resigned while the incident is being investigated.
He did not say when the officer will return.
“If we get hurt or if we hurt someone in the course of our duties, we’re always ready to make a statement,” Cotter said.
“I cannot say whether this officer .. will be prosecuted. “We need to be very sure before we release all the specific details.”
Mr Cotter said Ms Nowland took the serrated steak knife from the nursing home kitchen while wandering around the facility for a few hours.
“She approached the police, but it’s fair to say at a slow pace, she had a walker but she had a knife.” he said.
He said she had been given clear instructions by police to drop the knife and was “approaching the doorway” of a small “medical treatment room” when an experienced male police officer tasered her.
She was alone in treatment when the taser took place.
Mrs. Nowland’s family has gathered around her in the expectation that she will not have long to live.