Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old Australian woman, is hospitalised in critical condition after police tasered her inside her nursing home, local media reported.

A local community advocate, Andrew Thaler, told Guardian Australia that the woman was found wandering around her nursing home, Yallambee Lodge in southern New South Wales, with her walking aid and a steak knife on Wednesday.

“That’s somehow resulted in the police tasering this woman twice, once in front of her chest, and once in the back, then she’s fallen and struck her head,” Thaler said.

After further investigation, the police explained that they received a call from Nowland’s nursing home on Wednesday, around 4:15 am to address the reports of a resident with a knife.

Peter Cotter, NSW Police Force Assistant Commissioner, during a briefing on Friday, said that two officers found the woman in her bedroom with a knife.

“It is fair to say that she was armed with that knife. The knife in question was a steak knife with a serrated edge that she had obtained from the kitchen area of the nursing home a couple of hours earlier,” he said.

He further informed that Nowland did not drop the knife despite the police and paramedics’ negotiation.

“Clare approached the doorway where the police were at that stage, and the officer, the one officer, discharged the Taser,” he added, after which she fell to the ground and hit her head.

While updating the press about her condition, Cotter said: “The injury that she suffered as a result of hitting her head on the floor has rendered her bedridden at the moment. She remains in and out of consciousness.”

Cotter said that he has watched the footage of the incident, recorded by two police body cameras and termed it as “confronting”. He also announced that the footage will not be released as “it is not in the public interest.”

Currently, Clare Nowland is accompanied by her eight children who are taking turns to look after her and spend some time with her.