"There was no point in panicking," Mrs McCabe told the Herald. "I knew I had to get control of the situation or become a victim myself." Police say they were called to the apartment block in Iron Street, North Parramatta after a resident rang to say a 48-year-old woman, believed to have a history of mental illness, was threatening the man with a knife. They say the woman then turned the knife on police and could not be subdued with capsicum spray. A female constable shot at her twice and last night she was in a serious but stable condition in intensive care at Westmead Hospital. Police said the man was also treated at the hospital for a cut to his neck. But Mrs McCabe, described by neighbours as "terribly immobile", tells a different story. A former drug and alcohol counsellor with the Sydney City Mission, she said she had been about to retire for the night when she heard a man and woman screaming and opened her door to see them arguing on the driveway. "He was yelling at her," Mrs McCabe said. Rather than his being the victim, she said, the man was aggressive. "I quickly rang triple-0. "She ran towards the main door of my unit block and into the stairwell, but he pushed the door open and followed her. I was standing at my open door and … I told him to leave her be, to let her go … but at that moment the police arrived and sprayed him with capsicum spray. I ingested some of it as well and stepped back from the door. That's when I heard two shots." Mrs McCabe said the man, who had a shaved head with a black plait and was wearing black army boots, then burst into her apartment, pushing her aside.

"He was a huge man. And very angry and aggressive. I told him to sit down on the lounge and take deep breaths. I'm not the type to panic. "He asked me if he could take his jacket off and if he could wash the spray off in the sink. I let him wash himself in the kitchen." Mrs McCabe said a neighbour from across the hall repeatedly yelled at police, warning them the man was in her apartment. "She must have screamed 20 times, 'he's in her apartment,

he's in her apartment. Get him out.' But they left me with him for 10 minutes. I had to go out and tell them to come and get him. When they came in they made him sit on a kitchen chair and wanted to handcuff him. He got quite volatile." Neighbours said the shot woman was known always to carry a fork and lived not far from the scene. The two had been seen arguing further down the street about half an hour before police were called.

Mrs McCabe said she did not see the woman wielding a knife or fork and did not see any injuries on the man. "He took his jacket off while he was sitting on the lounge and there wasn't any blood. He had a red mark on his head but he didn't appear to be cut at all … We don't understand why the police are saying she was the attacker and that she had a knife." Police refused to comment on Mrs McCabe's version, saying a critical incident investigation team had been formed. But they said they had no intention of charging the man. However, a spokesman for Westmead Hospital said the man was not treated there. "I can confirm the woman is in intensive care but we did not see a man who was involved at all," he said.

Another neighbour, Marian Baker, who lives opposite Mrs McCabe, said she was woken by the couple screaming and then heard two shots. "But I am completely flummoxed as to why the couple was here," she said. "They are not residents and we don't get a lot of trouble around here." The acting assistant police commissioner, Karen Webb, said the officer who shot the woman, who is believed to have been in the force for less than two years, was not qualified to use a stun gun, even though the weapons were available at the station. "There weren't officers on duty last night that were trained in the Taser … and certified," she said. "Tasers have been issued to each of the 80 local area commands across the state and it's a question of those police that have been trained and certified being available at the time to be able to use them." Ms Webb would not comment on how many times the gun was fired or where the woman was shot. The matter is being investigated by the critical incident team and the police officer is expected to return to duty soon.

"She's gone home to rest as she was on night shift and there's no indication that she won't be returning to duty in the near future," Ms Webb said. The secretary of the NSW Police Association, Peter Remfrey, said all frontline police should have access to stun guns because shootings presented an "incalculable human cost to the police officer and the person who has been shot … the system is putting an intolerable burden on supervisors to make these life and death decisions quickly and all police need to have access to the full range of tactical options."

But the Premier, Nathan Rees, said stun guns would not be rushed in without a proper trial. Mrs McCabe's family rallied around her. "She is amazing," her daughter, Antoinette Hogan, said. "She rang me as soon as it happened and told me everything was under control so I didn't come over until this morning - and that's when I found out what really happened. She's had a lot of experience with people in these sort of situations through her hostel work but she's been retired for a very long time now so I am just stunned at this." with AAP