Man Stabbed Outside Downtown Vancouver Coffee Shop as Witnesses Watch

Police cars are seen parked outside Vancouver Police Department headquarters in Vancouver, on Jan. 9, 2021. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) has charged a 32-year-old man with murder, following a stabbing outside a downtown Starbucks near Granville Street on March 26.

VPD said in a March 27 news release they are seeking additional witnesses to the crime, which left Paul Stanley Schmidt, 37, dead. He worked as a mover in Burnaby, B.C., and is Vancouver’s sixth murder victim of the year, according to police.

Inderdeep Singh Gosal has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

“We believe this homicide was witnessed by dozens of bystanders, and there may be people with information who have not yet come forward,” said Sergeant Steve Addison.

“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.”

“Obviously this was extremely traumatic for everybody involved,” Addison told reporters.

The fatal stabbing occurred around 5:40 p.m. on a Sunday evening, which police said followed a brief altercation between the two men outside the coffee shop.

According to police, a constable patrolling in the area was flagged down moments after the stabbing, and arrested the suspect at the 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,” said police.

A graphic 36-second video was posted on social media, with raw footage of the stabbing. The video shows a dark-haired, heavyset man in bright red sweatpants and a white hoodie involved in a physical altercation just outside the entrance doors, with a slim, Caucasian man wearing grey pants, a white shirt, and a long-sleeved black jacket.

The video shows the man in red sweatpants going back into the busy Starbucks, while the Caucasian man stumbles around for a few seconds, clutching his left rib/chest area. He slowly collapses face-first to the ground.

The man in red sweatpants then comes back outside, opens the glass door, looks at the man on the ground, and goes back into Starbucks.

Splatters of blood can be seen all over the cement patio in front of the coffee house. The man on the ground tries to lift his head. A woman can be heard in the background crying incoherently.

A bearded man, wearing glasses, a black cap, and a grey jacket, is shown on video, sitting on the patio watching the events unfold and taking a sip of his coffee.

Police investigators have indicated they do not believe the victim and suspect knew each other, and said the circumstances that led up to the fatal stabbing remain under investigation.

The victim’s mother, Kathy, told Global News that Schmidt was “enjoying a family day” with his wife and young daughter, “stopping to pick up treats at Starbucks.”

“Paul lives for his wife and daughter,“ she said. ”They were his whole life.”