A 95-year-old Illinois man died in a violent confrontation with police on Friday after refusing to check into a medical facility. After threatening police with a cane and a knife, the senior citizen was Tasered and fatally shot with bean-bag rounds.<\/p>\n
The Cook County medical examiner\u2019s office said John Warna, a
\n95-year-old resident of a senior living community in Park Forest,
\nIll., died of blunt force trauma of the abdomen after police shot
\nhim with bean bag rounds.<\/p>\n
Police officers were called to the assisted living home on Friday
\nto help employees of a private ambulance company involuntarily
\ntransfer Warna to a clinic for medical treatment. The senior
\ncitizen had allegedly threatened the facility\u2019s staff and
\nparamedics with a metal cane and a 2-foot shoehorn because he did
\nnot want to check into the hospital.<\/p>\n
When police arrived the scene around 8:42 p.m. Police told Warna to surrender and listen to their instructions. Warna was declared dead at 2:30 a.m. Saturday<\/span>, and Bean-bag rounds consist of a fabric filled with lead shot. The Bean-bag rounds can be especially dangerous when fired at close Neighbors at the senior living community told CBS News that there \u201cIf they were smart policemen, one could have got in the front Administrators at the Victory Centre nursing home said they have \u201cOur thoughts and prayers are with the family as we mourn the The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Unit is currently
\nFriday<\/span>, they ordered the man to drop the items. Instead,
\nhe picked up a \u201c12-inch butcher type kitchen knife,\u201d<\/i> the
\nPark Forest Police Department said in an e-mailed press release
\nobtained by the Chicago Tribune.<\/p>\n
\nBut when he refused, police stunned him with a Taser and shot him
\nwith bean-bag rounds. The senior citizen was still conscious and
\ntalking when he was then taken to the St. James Hospital and
\nHealth Centers and later the Advocate Christ Medical Center. But
\nhe died just a few hours later.<\/p>\n
\nthe Cook County Medical Examiner\u2019s office on Monday<\/span>
\nannounced that he died of bleeding in the stomach from the blunt
\nforce trauma inflicted by the bean-bag rounds. His death was
\nruled a homicide.<\/p>\n
\nrounds can be fired from a regular shotgun, and are designed to
\ndeliver a blow that will leave the victim temporarily immobile.
\nBut when the rounds hit the chest, they can sometimes break the
\nribs and force the ribs into the heart. A shot to the head can
\ncause a broken nose, neck, larynx or skull. And a shot to the
\nabdominal area can cause internal bleeding.<\/p>\n
\nproximity, and present a serious risk of death or injury when
\nfired from less than 10 feet away. It is unclear how far police
\nwere from the 95-year-old before shooting him in the abdomen.<\/p>\n
\ncould have been better ways to disarm the old man and that the
\npolice response was unnecessarily violent.<\/p>\n
\nof that man and one could have went through back door and thrown
\na sheet over him, put him down and put the cuffs on him before
\nthey shot him,\u201d<\/i> said neighbor David Atkins.<\/p>\n
\nnever experienced any problems with the resident before<\/p>\n
\nloss of one of our own,\u201d<\/i> Emily Powell, executive director of
\nthe Victory Centre, told CBS.<\/p>\n
\nreviewing the case. Park Forest police have not yet commented on
\nthe incident.<\/p>\n