John Kass
An officer was charged this
morning in the police killing of 95-year-old John Wrana, the World War II
veteran who was fatally shot with beanbag rounds in his apartment at a south
suburban senior facility last year.
Cook County State’s Attorney
Anita Alvarez’s office said patrolman Craig Taylor, 43, was charged with one
count of reckless conduct, a Class 4 felony. Taylor has been with the Park
Forest Police Department since January, 2004.
Taylor appeared before a judge
today at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building and was released on his own
recognizance.
John KassWrana, who had served
with the U.S. Army Air Corps in Burma during World War II, was just weeks shy
of his 96th birthday when the confrontation occurred with police at the Victory
Centre assisted-living center in July 2013.
The elderly man had refused
medical treatment for a urinary tract infection, and reportedly became
belligerent. Police who were called to the scene fired a Taser that failed to
hit Wrana, and then shot him with bean-bag rounds fired from a shotgun. He died
hours later of internal bleeding, authorities said.
Though Wrana was infirm and
needed a walker or a cane to get around, police considered him armed and
dangerous. They said he brandished a cane, a knife and a 2-foot-long metal
shoehorn that some officers initially took for a machete.
Police responded with a Taser,
a riot shield, a shotgun with beanbag rounds and one drawn handgun when they
rushed him. An Illinois State Police inquiry of the case determined that Taylor
fired the 12-gauge Mossberg police shotgun five times at Wrana.
Park Forest police used shotgun
beanbag rounds from Combined Tactical Systems Inc. The rounds travel up to 190
mph, and manufacturer’s guidelines recommend that shooter be between 21 and 50
feet from the target. An independent pathologist who studied the original
autopsy report said that it appeared Wrana had at least four impact wounds to
his abdomen.
Despite Wrana being inside his
living unit alone with his front door closed, prosecutors said, "the
officers did not make any attempt to talk with Wrana and instead formulated a
plan within a few minutes of their arrival to re-enter the apartment in force
and secure Wrana with a ballistic shield, a Taser, a less-lethal shotgun, and a
loaded-firearm.”
Prosecutors said in a court
document that when Wrana moved toward officers and refusing to drop his knife,
Taylor "opened fire upon Wrana with the shotgun shooting one beanbag round
at Wrana and paused for a moment before firing four more rounds in succession
with all of the shots coming within just a few seconds.”
Wrana dropped the knife after
Taylor fired the fifth and final time, prosecutors said. Taylor was 6 to 8 feet
away from Wrana when he fired the shots, prosecutors said, even though he was
trained to fire the shotgun at a minimum of 15 feet.
After the fifth shot, Wrana
dropped the knife but remained standing, prosecutors said. At that time, the
police commander on the scene used the riot shield to knock Wrana to the floor,
where other officers handcuffed him, prosecutors said. He died later at a
hospital.
In a court document,
prosecutors asserted that the police overlooked less violent approaches to
handle the standoff.
"Other viable options to
de-escalate and resolve the matter safely were ignored, including allowing
Wrana to remain alone in his room while the officers attempted to calm him down
through the closed door," prosecutors said in a court document.
"Even after the missed
Taser attempt, the officers still could have safely retreated from his room
before resorting to violence, and the Defendant himself chose to open fire on
Wrana failing to consider the full effect that five beanbag rounds fired in
quick succession, from close range, would have upon a 95-year-old man."
If convicted, Taylor faces a
sentence ranging between probation and three years in prison. No other officers
have been charged in the case.
An attorney for Taylor could
not immediately be reached for comment.
Nicholas Grapsas, the attorney
representing Wrana’s stepdaughter Sharon Mangerson, said: "On behalf of
the family, we're pleased that it's finally been addressed and reviewed. We're
pleased that there's at least been an outcome with respect with an
investigation that's taken far, far too long."
jskass@tribune.com
John Geer
