The official Illinois State Police report on the death of 95-year-old John Wrana at the hands of Park Forest police in July remains unreleased, but I have just seen a copy.

And what it says is both riveting and disturbing about the police killing of the World War II veteran who liked to shoot dice and play cards.

Wrana, who needed a cane or a walker to get around, was brandishing a knife with a 7-inch blade, Park Forest police told state police investigators. The police were called to his south suburban assisted-living facility and perceived him as such a threat that they fired five shots at him with beanbag rounds from a 12-gauge Mossberg pump-action police shotgun.

Five shots.

Previous police statements never specified how many shots were fired, and an independent forensic pathologist told this column last fall that there were four separate impact wounds on the body.

But now we know, according to the report, that five shots were fired at Wrana by one police officer, who pulled the trigger, then pumped the shotgun again and again and again and again until the old man fell in his tiny apartment.

Why was the trigger pulled so many times on the night of July 26, 2013? Police told state investigators they were afraid for their lives and the lives of others. Yet Wrana, who was just weeks shy of his 96th birthday, was a mere 5 feet 5 inches tall.

The staff at the facility, Victory Centre, called police after Wrana began suffering from delusions, even claiming to be a relative of President Barack Obama. The staff noted that delusions can be a symptom of urinary tract infections in the elderly.

Yet when the police arrived to take him to the hospital for an evaluation, they felt compelled to subdue the old man with great force "due to Wrana's threats to blow up Victory Centre and slit the throats of everyone at Victory Centre."

While Wrana had a knife and cane, there is nothing in the report about any explosives. What would he blow it up with, a bedpan?

There are other new details as well.

According to the report, police initially thought that a dark metal shoehorn being brandished by Wrana was a "machete."

Wrana struck the back of a chair with the shoehorn, and threatened to throw his knife at the officers. They decided not to use pepper spray because they feared it would get into the ventilation system and harm residents with respiratory problems.

One officer had a riot shield and Taser. But when he fired the Taser, the prongs of the stun weapon "went directly to the ground," never reaching Wrana, the report said. It was unclear whether the Taser malfunctioned or was badly aimed.

Another officer had his handgun drawn. Two more stood ready to wrestle him to the ground. And another had the 12-gauge.

According to the state report, the shotgun was fired by a Park Forest police officer who joined the department in 2004. He saw Wrana brandishing the knife and "felt his life and the lives of his fellow officers were in danger, and (he) fired one beanbag round at Wrana, striking Wrana in the abdomen," according to the report.

"The beanbag round appeared to (the officer) to have no effect on Wrana, and Wrana continued to advance toward the officers in an aggressive manner."

The officer "fired four (4) more beanbag rounds from the shotgun at Wrana, and Wrana dropped the knife out of Wrana's right hand."

There is no mention in the narrative of the shooting distance. The CTS-brand "Super Sock" rounds travel about 190 mph. They are not to be fired at human targets closer than 21 feet, according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Nicholas Grapsas, the Wrana family attorney, says the old man was shot near the entranceway of his tiny studio apartment, about 10 feet from the door.

"I can't believe they shot him that many times," said Sharon Mangerson, Wrana's stepdaughter, when we told her about the report Thursday. "They didn't even tell the hospital that, right? So, to me, this was some sort of cover-up from the very beginning."

Sally Daly, spokeswoman for Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, said the office has the report but is also investigating the case on its own.

"It's an ongoing investigation," Daly said. "As in any other case, we're not going to comment on any specific information or any details that are included in the report."

She did say, however, that I'd been unfair to suggest that having the report for more than a month was ample time to make a determination.

Park Forest police Chief Clifford Butz didn't return a phone message asking for comment. State police spokeswoman Monique Bond said her agency is not tasked to make a recommendation on charges.

"We're just supposed to put the facts together," Bond said. "The state's attorney can make a determination. … We don't recommend."

Grapsas, a former prosecutor, said it was the first he'd heard of the number of shotgun rounds.

"Five times? Nobody ever wrote down that it was five. It was outrageous to be one shot," Grapsas said. "It's clearly outrageous and abusive and unwarranted now that it's five. To say it was unnecessary is an understatement."

But five it is, according to the Illinois State Police.

Five rounds, fired at a 95-year-old man who needed a cane to walk, because police said they were afraid.

jskass@tribune.com

Twitter @John_Kass