The Australian police are investigating why an experienced officer used a Taser on a 95-year-old woman who had approached him “at a slow pace” while holding a steak knife. The woman, Clare Nowland, who is 5-foot-2 and 95 pounds, uses a walker and has dementia. She was left in critical condition after a senior constable used the weapon on her on Wednesday morning in the care facility where she lives, causing her to fall and hit her head, according to the police. “At the time she was Tasered, she was approaching police — but it is fair to say, at a slow pace,” Peter Cotter, the New South Wales Police assistant commissioner, said at a news conference on Friday. “She had a walking frame, but she had a knife.”The news conference was held after people in the community, rights activists and advocates for those with disabilities expressed outrage, asking whether the officer’s use of force had been necessary.

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