Family of man killed at Starbucks urges people not to circulate graphic videos of stabbing

A message of shock, disbelief and anger was posted on Facebook by the sister of Paul Schmidt, the man who was brutally stabbed to death outside a Vancouver’s Starbucks on March 26.
Jessica Foxx while sharing picture of Schmidt wrote that the photo is “my step brother and his beautiful daughter.”
In the post, Schmidt’s sisterurges people not to watch the graphic videos circulating online that show the fatal stabbing and to implore people to speak to the police if they were in the area and saw anything.
“You have likely already saw this on the news or anywhere on social media… about the Vancouver Stabbing near starbucks. The Victim was my brother. Someone took my brother’s life yesterday and another person filmed it (do NOT watch) instead of calling the police and worse off posted it on social media very clearly for views(i will not say their name but i’ve seen their account & if they see this, please speak to the police and remove your video from social media it’s unbelievably traumatizing).
I am sick about this. My family is sick about this. I wrote this post many times being very angry & swearing but that won’t help anything. All I need anyone to do is please turn in all evidence to the police,” Foxx wrote.

Both Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and the Vancouver Police Department have asked people to stop sharing the video.
“You don’t need me to tell you that sharing a graphic, gratuitous video of someone’s dying moments is inappropriate. Anyone with a sense of good taste knows that’s inappropriate,” police spokesman Sgt. Steve Addison said.
Schmidt’s mother, Kathy, told Global News he was at Starbucks with his wife and his young daughter.
“Paul lived for his wife and his daughter… that was his whole life,” Kathy told Global News over the phone.
The Lower Mainland community was shocked at the brutal killing of Schmidt who was allegedly stabbed to death by 32-year-old Inderdeep Singh Gosal.
The fatal stabbing occurred around 5:40 p.m. on Sunday, following a brief altercation between two men outside the Starbucks at West Pender and Granville Street.

A VPD constable patrolling in the area was flagged down moments after the stabbing, and arrested the suspect at the crime scene. Additional VPD officers attempted to save the victim’s life by performing first aid, however he succumbed to his injuries after being rushed to hospital.

Schmidt, 37, was identified as the victim. He is Vancouver’s sixth homicide victim of 2023.

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 up to the fatal stabbing remain under investigation.

Anyone with information who has not yet spoken to police is asked to contact VPD’s Major Crime Section at 604-717-2500.

This tragedy has impacted and sent shockwaves of grief and heartache across the community and it is emotionally gut-wrenching to fathom what his family had to witness in horror.
A GoFundMe has now also been set up to help Schmidt’s family deal with their loss.

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