Gulf War Veteran with PTSD killed by police in Pennsylvania

UPDATE

Investigation into Lodi police shooting of Gulf War veteran could take a year to complete
By Cynthia Hubert
Published: Friday, Feb. 14, 2014

An investigation into the fatal shooting of a Gulf War veteran by Lodi police last month could take as long as a year to complete, a department spokesman told The Sacramento Bee.

Parminder Singh Shergill, who family members said suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder that made him anxious and depressed, was walking down the street where he lived with his mother and brother when officers shot him dead last month. Police said Shergill, 43, was carrying a knife and charged officers before they opened fire, an account that witnesses interviewed by legal investigators reportedly have disputed.
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Lt. Sierra Brucia, police spokesman “If someone is charging an officer and is a moving target, the officer can’t just shoot them in the leg,” Brucia said. “You’ve got to stop the suspect’s actions, stop the threat. The center of the body is the obvious target.” While we can understand that officers have to make snap decisions all the time shooting him was not as obvious as Brucia wants it to sound. Ever hear of something called a taser? That would be very obvious when faced off with a veteran with a knife and not a gun!

Lodi police kill Iraq veteran allegedly armed with knife
Modesto Bee
BY CYNTHIA HUBERT
January 31, 2014 Updated 5 hours ago

Shergill was born in Jagapur, India, and came to America with his parents when he was about 5 years old, according to Johal. After graduating from Lodi High School, he joined the Army, serving in Germany for two years before fighting on the front lines as an infantryman in Iraq during the Gulf War, Johal said.

He began showing symptoms of PTSD after his honorable discharge from the military in 1995, his cousin said. The condition is often accompanied by severe anxiety, flashbacks and depression.

At a vigil Friday, Kulbinder Sahota comforts her mother, Sukhwinder Kaur, as she sits next to a photograph of her son, Parminder Singh Shergill, whom Lodi police fatally shot last Saturday after they said he lunged at officers with a knife. JOS EACUTE; LUIS VILLEGAS

LODI — When the aftereffects of his post-traumatic stress disorder made him very anxious, Parminder Singh Shergill, a Gulf War veteran from one of the Central Valley’s most established Sikh families, would simply start walking.

A tall, soft-spoken man who relatives said kept his problems mostly to himself, Shergill, 43, was a familiar face in the tidy Lodi neighborhood where he lived with his mother and younger brother.

Last Saturday morning, family members said, he was battling his internal demons. After an anxious discussion with his mother, they said, he left on foot into the streets of his subdivision on the north end of town.

According to his cousin, Sacramento attorney Jack Johal, Shergill’s mother called police, worried about her son’s state of mind. Lodi officers intercepted Shergill not far from his home. What happened next is a matter of dispute.

Police officials said Shergill was armed with a knife, refused to respond to orders and lunged at officers, prompting them to open fire. He died just down the block from his family’s home.
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