LODI-

Family and friends of Parminder Singh Shergill gathered at his candle light vigil at the Deshmesh Darbar Sikh Temple in south Lodi on Friday evening.

The 43 year-old Army Veteran was shot and killed by two Lodi Police Officers on Jan. 25.

Just after 9 a.m., Lodi Police received a call from the Shergill residence for a disturbance call. Friends said Parminder must have suffered an episode of Post Traumatic Stress, and a family member called police. This was not the first time officers had come to the Shergills to suppress his behavioral outbreaks.

However, this time, things ended badly.

Lodi Police said Shergill charged at two veteran officers with a knife, giving them reason to shoot. Witnesses we spoke to said otherwise.

“It happened so fast, he just turned around, and they started shooting,” Cassandra Lopez, who witnessed the entire shooting, said. “I didn’t see any weapon in his hand at all.”

Those close to Parminder Shergill just want answers.

“Where are the officer’s training for pepper gas or pepper spray, or tasers?” Jag Singh Batth, friend of the Shergill family, said. “He was just walking. He wasn’t running from them, he wasn’t threatening any other citizen.”

Friends said this is a sad reminder of the struggles veterans go through after serving our country.

“If anybody out there, has any other relative, who is facing this kind of illness, post war syndrome, please don’t hesitate to get help,” Batth said. “I believe on a personal basis, I let him down.”

The names of the two officers who shot Shergill have not yet been released.

They were placed on leave but as of Wednesday, they are back on duty.

Lodi Police says the impartial investigation between them, the California DOJ, and San Joaquin County DA’s office is ongoing.