Georgia Police Use Taser on 87-Year-Old Woman Who Wouldn’t Drop Gardening Knife

When 87-year-old Martha Al-Bishara grabbed a knife to cut dandelions near her home Georgia home one day, she could never have imagined the drama that would have ensued afterward.

Police were called to the scene by an employee of a local Boys and Girls Club who saw a woman walking around outside with a knife. Three police officers responded to the call. However, when they approached Al-Bishara, she refused to drop the knife.

Relatives told reporters that Al-Bishara doesn’t speak much English, so she had trouble understanding the police. Police, however, say that they made several attempts to tell and show her what to do (including dropping their own knives and pointing to their actions).

A Georgia police chief said that the officers on the scene were justified in using their taser to stun Al-Bishara after she didn’t comply with the officers’ commands.

“An 87-year-old woman with a knife still has the ability to hurt an officer,” Chatsworth Police Chief Josh Etheridge told the Daily Citizen-News of Dalton.

The woman’s family, however, wishes the police had been more patient with the octogenarian.

Said Al-Bishara’s nephew, “If three police officers couldn’t handle an 87-year-old woman, you might want to reconsider hanging up your badge.”

Check out the video below for more information on the unfortunate incident: