There is a disturbing report out of Chicago where police were called when 95-year-old world War II veteran John Wrana refused to go to a hospital for a urinary tract infection. Called by paramedics to assist in getting Wrana into an ambulance, the Park Forest police showed up in riot gear and proceeded to shoot Wrana first with a stun gun and then with a bead bag fired from a shotgun. He no longer needed treatment for the urinary tract problem. He died from internal bleeding and blunt force trauma. He was about to celebrate his 96th birthday.
Wrana was reportedly frail and had difficulty walking. We have previously discussed other cases involving the killing of a bedridden elderly woman and an unarmed suicide case. The cases raise serious questions of the rapid escalation of such cases in the level of force used by police as well as the increasing use of “non-lethal devices” as a first response to threats.
Wrana was living in an assisted-living facility. Paramedics told police that he was threatening them with a metal shoehorn and a knife. Some reports indicate that Wrana had decided that he did not want to go through an operation. That may have been the reason why he was resisting. He said that he understood that not having the operation could kill him but decided against it. It is not clear whether he was declared incompetent before the attempt to force him to go to the hospital.
The family contests the claim of the knife. Even if he had a knife, it is hard to see why police could not stand back (particularly since they had riot shields) and avoid using such force on an individual who clearly would be a risk with either a stun gun or bean bag round. Even if the blunt trauma did not finish him off, the shock could easily trigger a heart attack in a near 96 year old man. Some reports indicate that multiple rounds of bean bags may have been used.
Wrana was U.S. Air Corps veteran who served in Burma and India during World War II. Sergeant Wrana survived the hellish fighting in Burma but would later die in the United States just short of this 96 birthday in a confrontation with police. Truly bizarre.
Just for the record. These bean bag rounds are often thought of as harmless, almost toy-like devices. The bean bags fired form a shotgun will initially travel at around 300-400 feet a second (though they have a range of 70 feet). They have been shown to break ribs and even push broken ribs into the heart. Internal bleeding is a well-known risk.
Wow I guess things have changed since I worked in a nursing home as a can we were taught patient right number 1 patients have a right to refuse care n meds no force …. now they call the cops when they cant get a patient to do something wtf is the world coming to . next they will be telling us what we can n cant do n calling cops on us for no reason at all .
I have worked for nursing facilities for years and a patient has the legal right to refuse medical care at any time, unless they are deemed incompetent! The nursing facility should be held accountable as well. If I were the family, I would get a good lawyer and nail them all to the wall!!! Those involved should be ashamed for treating an elderly man, let alone a veteran that way! SHAME ON THEM>>>May God have mercy on their pitiful souls…that is if they have a soul!!!! ><
Final thot….Since he is CONVIENTLY DEAD NOW…….YOUR FEDERAL GOVERNEMTN THAT YOU GLADLY PAY TAXES TO DOES NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR HIS CARE ANYMORE…..CONVIENENT HUH?
My God, Are the people in this country as stupid as some of the comments I have seen here? If so, this place deserves to be nuked by an Enemy – foreign or domestic. THIS OLD MAN WAS MURDERED ! THIS PLACE IS JUST LIKE THE SOVIET UNION WITH NARCISSISTIC SOCIOPATHS RUNNING EVERYTHING and a bunch of abjectly stupid sheep terrified of their own shadows afraid to rise up against it. Hey – Psycho cops – had that been my Dad, I would hunt you down slowly year by year until I had all of you in the grave.
What do y’all expect the police to do when literally *anybody* they go to deal with could be armed ?
Ban guns and the reason for police to be so heavy-handed on noral call-outs all but disappears.
it is a sad state of affairs that now the elderly must fear the police that are supposed to be there to protect them, I have been afraid of the police for a long time. I was mugged and left unconscious on the sidewalk. instead of waking up in the hospital , I woke up in jail , it must be illegal to bleed on the sidewalk,why jail and not a hospital?
I AM SO SORRY THAT THIS HAS HAPPEND. THIS AND ALL THE OTHER EVIL AND SENSELESS THINGS HAPPENING TODAY. I AM SUFFER FROM MENTAL ILLNESS AND I HAVE BEEN OUT OF CONTROL BUT NOT THREATNING. HOWEVER I HAVE FOUND THAT IT CAN BE KNOWN BY OFFICERS AND HOPSITAL STAFF AND THEY STILL WILL BE PUNITIVE, YA GET CUFFED AND EITHER THROWN IN JAIL OR DRUGGED AND CHECKED INTO THE WARD.. IT WAS LIKE I WAS BEING A BAD LITTLE BUT I WAS SICK. THIS MAN HAD A RIGHT TO REFUSE MEDICAL CARE, AGAIN I AM SO SORRY THAT THIS HAS HAPPEND. MAY GOD HELP US ALL
that is what happens when you become the ward of the state.. no personal decisions, only what Nursing homes tell yo to do… these Police should be fired on the spot and the nursing home lose their license.. so sad
Florence LaMagna Stupid from the start; 1. nursing home staff is at fault if the man has living will he has first say…2. who ever called in for police help did not describe the elderly care problem clearly 3. patient has right to refuse medical attention and family members to be notified first…4. police should have received adequate information of problem w/elderly and deny participation or come as assisting for the good of the patient …5. the nursing supervisor or what ever the tittle, someone in authority could have been the advocate and someone in managerial position should be there at all times… very sad to see the disintegration of the nursing system caring for the elderly… the nursing management is really at fault………. IT IS NOT THE COPS as much as the managerial staff of the nursing home…WHAT THE HELL DID THEY TELL THE police and why the police ????????? They SHOULD have called the family … that nursing home better be reviewing and talking with the police of help with the elderly if that is their source for assisting in transport…
Bedridden elderly people deserve some respect.
IF the gentleman did have a knife, at 95 yrs old what harm would he have really done, especially with men in riot gear. But to arrive with full riot gear on to a nursing home is still going overboard for a call of a disturbance. These cops nowaway days think like they own this country and it is in lock down mode in a prison. Being a VET myself i feel these cops need to be charged with manslaughter of any type as to prove to these cops that they are not above the law. And the laws are to protect us from them and their over righteous thought that they are the judge, jury and executioners. Where did the compansion go as with the cops of back in the old days of talking to the assailates that are aboviously not a real threat to society. I understand that some people are threats and if i was around them i would do my damdest to stop them myself. But if a vet was involved i would have tried to talk them down before the cops would have acted in a wartime manner of kill before getting killed mentallity. Now i know alot of cops and they are good such people but some to most are power hungry and to young to have the knowledge of older cops. And to have respect for people and yes do your job right but be careful as to the force you use. This is not Russia back in the 70’s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this is outrageous! Someone should start a petition to have not only the “so called” officers but the nursing home staff as well for murder!
soon enough police soon enough, EYE FOR AN EYE!
Chicago P.D. = piece of shit scumbag thugs with badges.
That is threat not treat. Just a Nurse.
JUST A NURSE Being an assisted living facility they don’t usually have the medication for immediate agitation or to knock him out. Have to get near him to do it. One Nursing Home I worked at did have someone threaten with a knife if he couldn’t do something he wanted. He had a plastic knife but they took it as a treat. Yes, many people with dementia can be quite normal acting but 4 pm comes and like a switch was flipped. Called
Sun Downers. I question the UTI and surgery thing Yes an infection can make you septic and that will kill you. Only thing I can think of is maybe prostrate surgery if he was having problems emptying his bladder thus repeated infections. Some Dr’s will order something others will make you get a urine sample and wait for the lab to come back. The minute you go into a nursing facility or assisted living, hospital you get a booklet of Patient’s Rights Wonder what would happen if he was some highly decorated officer? This situation should never have happened.
I have never seen the ambulance people abuse any of our patients as you as nurse have to go down with them to the room. I can’t imagine what the other residents are thinking and feeling after this. I have herd one of the NY police say we shoot to kill?? I thought it was shoot to disarm and another told me that is the case. No DRs in the Assisted Living They were taken out to see their Dr. Nursing Home they have one or so but often they come in to sign their monthly orders and maybe see just a couple of patients. We had to call them for everything we needed as to high temp or anxiety. In Nursing Home setting we were also taught how to take down with 2 and it is still very much female occupation. Yes the dog shootings all over are unreal. One officer tried to say the dog was attacking yet the bullet went into the back of the dogs head as he was walking away to go to his garage Bad things happening all over but the I will lie you swear to it is making a lot of people very angry I feel bad for his family.
“He said that he understood that not having the operation could kill him but decided against it.” The man was 95, forced medical procedures like operations, that is what is illegal here.
He was 95, reaching that age, could also “kill him.” Maybe he just figured he could drink cranberry juice, but the juices he could get in his assisted living facility were all from concentrate or had too much sugar or weren’t cold pressed — or something. But so what? Maybe he wanted to drink whiskey and smoke cigars and figured he would pass soon anyway.
The man did not want to have an operation. Armed people came to try to force him to have an operation against his will.
You can “declare him incompetent,” if you want, but that just might mean “he doesn’t agree with you, he does not want to have an operation, it is his life and his body and his choice.” Period.
Please post: the names and ID numbers of the officers, the name of the assisted living facility, the names of the people responsible for trying to force a 95 year old man to have an operation (operations can also kill you, and are probably higher risk that a urinary tract infection — umm hello), so that would include insurance carrier (and the names of the people who issued the “order” along with copies of the paper work), the name(s) of the doctor(s) who made the recommendation that became a case of attempted forced medical torture — which the patient resisted — and was killed in the process of trying to avoid having his human rights violated.
Your choice of treatment modality is a human right.
WHO Constitution: “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being…”
http://www.who.int/hhr/en/
Choosing how you want to deal with a urinary tract infection is included in that basic human right, which is not provided by or formulated by the WHO Constitution, but merely described and documented by it.
It is very clear that shooting a 95 year old man (even with projectile oft described as “non-lethal”) violates his enjoyment of health.
Please post names and documentation if your audience is to provide constructive help.
Sincerely,
dainis w michel
or google park forest police department and call them.
Wow – sounds like murder to me, too. He defended his country only to get killed by an enemy within. Sad. Hope some charges get laid. Interesting posting from Otteray regarding the taser cams. 🙂