It was supposed to be a normal Sunday evening trip to Starbucks for Paul Stanley Schmidt, who was with his fiancé and 3-year-old daughter. He stood outside on the patio of the coffee shop with several other customers – his daughter in a stroller next to him and his fiancé inside ordering their favorite beverages.
One of those customers standing near Paul was vaping beside his daughter. In an effort to protect his young daughter from the smoke, Paul asked the man if he could stop vaping. That’s when things took a turn for the worse. A brief altercation between the two men ensued and quickly escalated beyond control.
A sad & brutal end of a beautiful dream & a very beautiful family. Police say a suspect, 32-year-old "Inderdeep Singh Gosal"
The man murdered was Paul Stanley Schmidt, whose wife and young daughter were reportedly at the scene. RIP ???? pic.twitter.com/84THpWZjwf
— ashesh kumar???????? (@ashesh065) March 28, 2023
Within seconds, the man who was vaping pulled out a knife and started stabbing Paul countless times. Blood was splattered all over the patio as Paul fought for his life, eventually succumbing to the wounds before laying down in a pool of his own blood. He died immediately – right by the front door of the shop.
The man behind the knife was identified as Inderdeep Singh Gosal, a 32-year-old man who is accused of being pro-Khalistani. He was immediately charged with second-degree murder and taken into custody without incident. At this time, attorney and plea information has not been released.
32-year-old Inderdeep Gosal has been charged with second degree murder after a stabbing at a Vancouver Downtown Starbucks Sunday around 5:40 p.m., after a “brief altercation” between two men.
The victim, identified as 37-year-old Paul Stanley Schmidt.
Homicide was witnessed by… pic.twitter.com/BRS7UA9Veo
— Gurpreet S. Sahota (@GurpreetSSahota) March 27, 2023
Kathy Schmidt, the mother of Paul Stanley Schmidt, says she is both ‘angry and sad’ at the death of her son. “This is so horribly wrong what happened,” she said – adding that her son was just trying to protect his daughter. She also confirmed that his fiancé, Ashley, was forced to witness the entire incident.
Schmidt is being remembered as a hard-working man who always put his family – especially his fiancé and daughter – first. He had worked at Jiffy Move – a moving company – for the past five years and his income was the only income for his family. Now, that family is left with nothing – not even a father.
According to a statement released by Vancouver Police Department, Inderdeep Singh Gosal, 32, has been charged with second-degree murder following a stabbing outside a downtown Vancouver Starbucks on Sunday evening. Paul Stanley Schmidt, 37, has been identified as the victim. The… pic.twitter.com/BPMi5o7PjI
— Connect FM Canada (@connectfmcanada) March 27, 2023
“Paul was a great guy and a hard worker. He was a devoted husband and father,” said Sean Collings, the operations manager of Jiffy Move. He explained that his 200-300 employees are somewhat of a tight-knit family and all know each other, adding that they’re all feeling the pain of Paul’s tragic and horrific death.
Family of Paul Stanley Schmidt Urge Others Not to Share Graphic Video
Following the incident, a video that was taken during the stabbing – we won’t show that video due to the graphic and heinous nature – was immediately shared on social media. While the video has been viewed by millions of people, many are condemning those that share the video – including Paul’s family.
Vancouver Please help support GoFundMe for Paul’s family. On Sunday, March 26th at approximately 5:30pm, Paul Stanley Schmidt was stabbed to death outside Starbucks on Pender/Granville. He succumbed to his injuries leaving a wife & toddler behind
Please share/donate if you can pic.twitter.com/p45dlA0tPI
— Black Vancouver (@blackvancouver_) March 28, 2023
“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,” said Jessica Foxx Foto – the victim’s stepbrother. She requested that the person remove the video from social media immediately.
Sgt. Steve Addison, a spokesperson for the Vancouver Police Department, seconded that statement. “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,” he said of the video.
Please support the family of Paul Stanley Schmidt https://t.co/u8gyCufTiJ
— Christopher Dull ???????? ???????? (Contrarian) (@Smiley1261984) March 30, 2023
Moira Aikenhead, a professor at the University of Victoria, furthered that sentiment. “If you have enough people filming something, a certain percentage are going to share it, some without a thought. They’re not considering the harm this could do to other people, or more broadly to society by having images like this become more commonplace.”
For those that would like to support the family of Paul Stanley Schmidt, a GoFundMe account has been created by the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden Society of Vancouver with the goal of raising $200,000 – they are currently at more than $120,000 with more than 2,000 donations so far.