Dad butchered at Canadian Starbucks as family looks on; people gawk, sip on their coffee as he bleeds out

Tragedy was compounded Sunday outside a Canadian Starbucks as onlookers sat by while a father was stabbed and others rushed over, but only to gawk at the horror that unfolded.

(Video: Global News)

Paul Stanley Schmidt, 37, had reportedly taken his three-year-old daughter to pick up his wife from work in Vancouver Sunday when the family decided to stop at a Starbucks to buy drinks. It was there that an alleged dispute over a man vaping near the toddler escalated to violence, the Vancouver Sun reported.

Just outside the retail coffee shop, 32-year-old suspect Inderdeep Singh Gosal was said to have fatally stabbed Schmidt while patrons, passersby and employees all looked on. Multiple viral videos captured the end of the dispute where the father, bleeding profusely, collapsed to the ground as the suspect turned his back and entered the Starbucks.

One even featured a young man streaming his own reaction with the victim in the background with an air of excitement about him.

Warning: Graphic Content

Speaking to the Vancouver Sun, the victim’s mother, Kathy Schmidt, said, “It all started because he was vaping beside the baby.”

A conversation with the CBC led her to say, “I’m still not sure what happened, but when his wife came out, the person was in Paul’s face. The guy said to [Paul’s wife], ‘you better grab your kid.'”

The suspect was later arrested by police and charged with second-degree murder, and Vancouver Police Department spokesman Sergeant Steve Addison said, “There’s a significant amount of evidence to tell us what happened. What we are focusing on now is why did this happen. What are the events that transpired in the moments leading up to this very serious crime … and that’s something that may take some time for us to fully understand.”

“We believe there are people likely nearby, people who witnessed it, people who were in the area who can help us understand those questions,” he went on.

The report from Global News went on to include a young man identified as Alex Bodger, believed to be the same person who filmed himself in front of the crime scene, taking a more somber tone with the media. “It’s definitely not something that somebody wants to experience just on a Sunday walking down the streets of Vancouver.”

“Everybody was quite traumatized,” he went on but social media users weren’t buying the sympathy as many suggested culpability for the actions of onlookers.

Of note, Canada’s 2001 Samaritan Act provides legal protections for citizens who attempt to render aid during an emergency removing liability should their effort be accused of causing injury to a victim. However, the law does not require bystanders to act.

“Just one word,” Schmidt’s mother said to CBC. “Senseless. Senseless that an altercation ended up in a murder. Ended up with my son losing his life.”

Kevin Haggerty

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