Chicago Cops Taser, Fire, and Kill 95-Year-Old War Vet John Wrana
Late last month, Chicago county police accidentally killed John Wrana, a 95-year-old former U.S. Air Corps sergeant in World War II, after he refused to take his medicine.
He had been described as “wobbly” in his walk but declined medical attention. When the paramedics were called, he resisted with his cane and a two-foot metal shoe horn. According to the police report, when paramedics stayed after Wrana’s warnings, he picked up a 12’’ butcher knife.
That is when the police present decided to taser the 95-year-old senior with a stun gun. Despite the fact that the paramedics were originally called to assist Wrana’s reportedly feeble condition, the nonagenerian continued to brandish the knife after being tased. Police then decided to shoot him with beanbag rounds, a 12-gauge shotgun that fires a small bag filled with lead shot and weighing about 1.4 ounces.
This was apparently enough to subdue Wrana enough to transport him to St. James Hospital where Wrana died in the early hours of July 27, the following day.
The Cook County medical examiner's office recently released the cause of death; Wrana died from hemoperitoneum, a bleeding in the stomach area from the blunt force trauma of the beanbag gun.
Wrana’s caretaker and stepdaughter, Sharon Mangerson, does not trust the police report of events and has since hired an attorney to investigate the matter.
“This was a literal war hero,” says family attorney Nicholas Grapsas. “It’s outright insulting when you have such lack of respect for someone who served our country to the extent he did.”
Wrana was just a few weeks short of his 96th birthday.
Sources: Chicago Tribune, South Town Star
