Horrifying footage shared to Twitter shows the moment a dad was brutally stabbed to death at a Starbucks in Vancouver, Canada after he reportedly asked his attacker to stop vaping close to his three-year-old daughter.
The victim was identified as 37-year-old Paul Stanley Schmidt who was at the Starbucks with his fiancée and three year old child. Apparently, while his fiancée was inside getting drinks, Paul was outside with the stroller and the suspect was vaping near the baby and Paul asked him to stop. Things then turned violent.
In the video footage the suspect identified as 32-year old Singh Gosal, can be seen stabbing Schmidt who then clutches himself and falls to the ground surrounded by a pool of his own blood. The person recording the video can be heard giving commentary while other bystanders seemingly continue to sip their coffee as Paul lays dying.
“We believe this homicide was witnessed by dozens of bystanders, and there may be people with information who have not yet come forward,” Police Sergeant Addison said. “We particularly want to hear from anyone who was present in the moments before the stabbing, or anyone who has cell-phone video of the incident.”
Paul’s mother, Kathy spoke out following the death of her son,
“This is so horribly wrong what happened,” she said. “He was just trying to protect his daughter,” she said. “I’m angry and I’m sad.”
Singh has been charged with second-degree murder in the death but his mother believes that it should be first degree, however, first degree requires evidence of premeditation. Kathy argued that the fact the suspect had a knife on him should be sufficient.
“He had a knife,” she added. “I don’t carry a knife into a coffee shop, do you?”
“It all started because he was vaping beside the baby. Ashley’s in shock, she watched the whole thing. She’s so devastated.”
At around 5:40 p.m. on Sunday, a patrol car was dispatched to the scene and they took the suspect into custody. He did not resist arrest.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim urged the public to not share the horrifying video on social media,
“Our hearts go out to Mr. Schmidt and his family -— out of respect for them and their loss, please refrain from sharing graphic images or videos of the incident on social media,” Sim wrote.
#WATCH : 32-year-old arrested and charged with second-degree murder of a #Starbucks employee in downtown #Vancouver , #Canada . The accused was reportedly last seen attending the pro- #Khalistan rally outside #IndianHighCommission pic.twitter.com/7zz90KCtNV
— Firstpost (@firstpost) March 28, 2023
Police do not believe that the victim and suspect knew each other.