Illinois Officer Acquitted in Killing of 95-Year-Old Man

A suburban Chicago police officer was acquitted Wednesday in the death of a 95-year-old World War II veteran whom he shot with a beanbag gun at an assisted living facility.

The Park Forest officer was charged with felony reckless conduct for the July 2013 death of John Wrana , who died from internal bleeding. He was found not guilty after a bench trial, with the judge saying the officer showed restraint as Wrana wielded a knife and acted as he was trained.

"There was nothing criminal about his actions," Cook County Judge Luciano Panici said in a courtroom packed with police officers and Wrana's relatives in Markham, south of Chicago, the Associated Press  reports.

The officer put his head down as the verdict was read, then cried as he stood to hug his crying wife. Wrana's relatives also quietly wept and shook their heads as they hugged one another.