What makes a homicide most unfortunate is if it happens to be a racial hate crime, even more so if the victim was killed by the silence of dozens of bystanders rather than action of one.
On Sunday, near Starbucks at Downtown Vancouver, a Vancouver man Paul Stanley Shmidt, 37, was fatally stabbed by Inderdeep Singh Gosal.The incident took place around 5 pm on West Pender and Granville Street and the footage and visuals of the incident went viral on social media. In the shocking clip, the victim can be seen collapsing on the floor amidst pool of blood, while the suspect slams the Starbucks door behind him. The family of the victim later pleaded through social media, wanting the videos pulled off and anyone with footage or info to report to the police. The man, reportedly, was at the café with his wife and daughter.
Vancouver Police News Release
A suspect has been charged with murder following a stabbing outside a downtown Starbucks Sunday evening, and Vancouver Police are seeking additional witnesses to the crime. We believe the homicide was witnessed by dozens of bystanders, and there may be people with information who have not yet come forward," says Sergeant Steve Addison. The fatal stabbing occurred around 5.40 pm on Sunday, following a brief altercation between two men outside the Starbucks at West Pender and Granville Street."
It further said Inderdeep Singh Gosal, 32, has been charged with second-degree murder. "Investigators do not believe the victim and suspect knew each other, however, the circumstances that led upto the fatal stabbing remain under investigation." Paul Stanley Shmidt is Vancouver's sixth homicide victim of 2023.
A fundme page for the victim's family
The heart-wrenching footage immediately draws concerns around the victim's family, a wife and daughter who reportedly were present when the incident took place. The fundraiser, organised by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden Society of Vancouver, on gofundme website, aims to raise financial aid for his wife and toddler, who meant the world to Paul Schmidt. "Paul lived for his wife and his daughter…that was his whole life," his mother Kathy told Global News over the phone.
