Family of Starbucks Stabbing Victim Asks People to Remove Graphic Video of His Murder From Social Media

A woman pauses at a makeshift memorial for Paul Stanley Schmidt, 37, who died after being stabbed on Sunday outside a Starbucks in downtown Vancouver, on March 29, 2023. Vancouver police say Inderdeep Singh Gosal, 32, has been charged with second-degree murder and investigators do not believe the suspect and victim knew each other. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck)

The stepsister of the man fatally stabbed outside a downtown Vancouver Starbucks is expressing anger that witnesses filmed and watched as her brother was murdered—instead of calling the police—and then posted the graphic video on social media.

“I am angry, heartbroken, grieving and confused but looking for answers,” said the victim’s sister, Jessica, in a statement on Facebook on March 28.

She begged people not to watch or share the video of her brother’s murder.

“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,” she said.

She said she has asked the individual who posted the video to remove it from social media. “It’s unbelievably traumatizing,” she wrote. “I am sick about this. My family is sick about this.”

Schmidt’s sister pleaded with people to turn in all evidence to the police, and come forward if they heard the conversation, or saw what took place between her brother, 37-year-old Paul Stanley Schmidt, and the alleged killer, 32-year-old Inderdeep Singh Gosal on March 25.

Gosal has been charged with second-degree murder.

‘Senseless Crime’

“It’s devastating. It’s senseless crime. Paul lived for his family and to have that ripped away from him is just cruel and unacceptable. It’s heartbreaking,” his mother, Kathy Schmidt, of Kelowna, told Global News on March 28.

Schmidt told reporters that her son was with his wife, Ashley Umali, and the couple’s three-year-old daughter, Erica, and the family went to Starbucks near Granville Street. He stayed outside with the toddler in her stroller, while Umali went inside to order.

According to the mother, the stabbing occurred after Schmidt asked the suspect not to vape near his toddler.

“I’m told that this person that attacked him was standing beside the stroller vaping and Paul had asked him, or told him to move, and not smoke in front of her. And that’s how the altercation started,” she told CTV News.

“The attacker said to (Schmidt’s fiancé), ‘You better grab your kid. ’And then things escalated from there,” Kathy said.

Kathy said Schmidt’s wife and toddler saw him being stabbed to death, and that no one called the police.

Witnesses Asked to Come Forward

VPD said in a March 27 news release that they are seeking witnesses to the crime, but have not released more details as to the events that took place.

“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 the evening of March 26, 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 Schmidt, a slim, Caucasian man wearing grey pants, a white shirt, and a long-sleeved black jacket.

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.

‘Impacting Evidence’

“This is an awful and tragic story to hear about. Nobody should ever feel unsafe walking around [our] city,” said Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim on social media on March 27. He asked people to stop sharing the video.

Vancouver Police Department (VPD) Deputy Chief Howard Chow retweeted Sim’s comments on Twitter, saying on March 27, “Can there be anything more disgusting & loathsome than seeing a video posted of the stabbing. Aside from impacting evidence, have you considered the impact on the victim’s family and friends.”

The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden set up a GoFundMe page to benefit Schmidt’s widow and daughter. The fundraiser had collected almost $90,000 in donations at the time of publication.

Opposition Liberal MLA Todd Stone said in the legislature on March 29, “Random attacks which used to be a rare occurrence in British Columbia, have sadly become all too common. Almost to the point of being normalized in our province.”

Stone called on the government to address the problem of increased violence on Vancouver streets.