Two years ago a suburban Chicago police officer unloaded five rounds of beanbags into a ninety-five-year-old man at close range. The elderly man, John Wrana Jr. died from the internal bleeding caused his injuries. The cop, Park Forest Police Officer Craig Taylor, has been charged with felony reckless conduct changes in the death of Mr. Wrana.

Officer Taylor was among a group of officers dispatched to the assisted living home where Mr. Wrana lived. According to nursing home staff, the elderly man became belligerent and irrational when paramedics attempted to take him to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. The staff claims that Mr. Wrana barricaded himself in his room and was waving around knife, cane, and a metal shoehorn after several police officers arrived on the scene.

Prosecutors acknowledged that Mr. Wrana was combative while waving around the items mentioned above and that he threatened the police officers. However, prosecutors were quick to point out that the group of police officers arrived armed with firearms, stun guns, a ballistic shield, common sense, and training in subduing subjects.

Officer Taylor testified at his trial Thursday that he fired the beanbags loaded in his shotgun after a police stun gun misfired, because he was afraid for his life and “had to do something to stop him.”

The police officers should have known better than to fire a stun gun or beanbags at an elderly man. You don’t have to be a genius to understand that an elderly individual can be severely injured or killed when excessive force is used by police.

Even the most physically fit ninety-five-year-old in the world, knife, cane, and shoehorn in hand, should be no match for several police officers armed with nothing more than their hands. If a cop is unable to handle a situation like this without using the force of a stun gun or by firing beanbags, then maybe they aren’t cut out to be in law enforcement. Hopefully, Officer Taylor and his counterparts that were present that day are held accountable for the pain and suffering they’ve caused to the family of Mr. Wrana.

Sources: ABC News and CBS Chicago

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