The condition of a NSW grandmother who was tasered by police while using a walking frame and holding a steak knife has worsened, a family friend says.

Clare Nowland, 95, was hit with a taser at an aged care facility in the early hours of Wednesday, after she allegedly failed to drop the knife.

Mrs Nowland is now receiving end-of-life care in Cooma District Hospital surrounded by her distraught family after being critically injured during the incident.

Family friend and community advocate Andrew Thaler said Mrs Nowland’s condition has worsened as her family remains by her bedside.

“Her breathing has been getting shallower, but she’s still with us,” he told AAP on Saturday.

Staff from the Yallambee Lodge nursing home called police after Mrs Nowland, who has dementia, is 43kg and uses a walking frame, took a serrated steak knife from the kitchen into a small treatment room.

Police and ambulance officers tried to get Mrs Nowland to drop the knife before a senior constable fired his taser once as she slowly approached them, Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter said on Friday.

She fell and her head struck the floor.

“This is a very live and very serious investigation which the Homicide Squad is investigating, and in the rights of everyone involved, the investigation process has to carry on,” Mr Cotter said.

The officer who fired the electric shock weapon joined the force 12 years ago and has been taken off active duty.

The critical incident investigation has been elevated to “level one” due to Mrs Nowland suffering an injury that could lead to her death.

Mr Cotter declined to say whether the officer might face criminal charges, saying it would breach procedural fairness.

The assistant commissioner said he had seen the body camera footage and agreed with a family friend it was confronting. He has declined to release it publicly.