Elderly Man Tasered To Death By Police

An elderly man tasered to death by police was first reported on Saturday by NBC Chicago.

This “hard to believe there wasn’t an easier way” case began when the nursing home resident, 95-year-old John Warna, began threatening paramedics and staff with a cane and a metal shoehorn, the website noted.

Staff at Park Forest’s Victory Centre on the 100 block of South Main Street phoned police, who arrived at the complex several minutes later.

It was at this point, authorities said, that Warna turned his attention to officers, threatening them with a 12-inch butcher knife.

The officers responded by hitting the 95-year-old with a Taser charge. When that failed to subdue Warna, the officers used several bean bag rounds.

The man was still conscious and talking to officers and staff as he was being transported to a local hospital by paramedics, according to a department press release.

Warna first arrived at St. James Hospital and Health Centers in Chicago Heights before being taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. He died at close to 2:30 a.m., authorities said.

Medical examiners had not released a cause of death on Saturday evening.

While it does seem that the elderly man tasered to death by Park Forest police could have been subdued in an easier way, that’s pretty easy to say when you’re not the one actually there in the moment.

There have been several examples as of late of elderly people being more than a handful.

In April, The Inquisitr brought you a report on Annie Oliver of Kansas City, who was charged with the brutal murder of her husband Ronald.

Despite being on a constant supply of oxygen and showing years of frailty to those who knew her, Oliver reportedly called her granddaughter after the crime, stating that her husband had been “talking smart,” so she hit him with a baseball bat and then cut him with a knife.

Then, in February, an elderly man shot and killed 33-year-old home intruder Deyfon Pipkins.

As for the elderly man tasered to death by police, do you think the officers could have found another way?

[Image via Aaron Kohr / Shutterstock.com]