Mother of Vancouver stabbing victim devastated: ‘Nobody … called for help’

Kathy Schmidt is still trying to wrap her head around the tragic loss of her son Paul, who was killed in a random stabbing in Vancouver Sunday.

Raw with emotion, she says she’s in shock — not just over her son’s death, but also over how people reacted while Paul was struggling.

“I was incredibly surprised that nobody from inside the Starbucks called for help, nobody outside called for help. It wasn’t until basically he was in dire straits that somebody flagged down an officer on the sidewalk,” she told CityNews.

A memorial for Paul Schmidt, who was killed in a stabbing in downtown Vancouver, sits near the Starbucks where he was stabbed. (Michael Williams, CityNews Image)

Paul died after he was rushed to the hospital. Police say he was stabbed after a “brief altercation” with another person outside a Starbucks in the area of West Pender and Granville streets, with investigators adding the incident appeared to be random.

The 37-year-old, originally from the Okanagan, was with his family, including his three-year-old daughter, when he died.

“What kind of world are we living in when you take your family to Starbucks in the middle of the afternoon and you’re attacked and killed, with many people standing around videotaping and watching?” Kathy asked, audibly upset.

“I’m incredibly sad for my son. I suppose that’s all I can say — it’s incredibly sad, devastating.”

Kathy says she’s been told the dispute started when Paul asked a man to stop smoking near his young daughter. Police have not confirmed these details, noting the “circumstances that led up to the fatal stabbing remain under investigation.”

A 32-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the incident.

Understandably, Kathy says Paul’s fiancé — whom reports earlier suggested was his wife — is devastated.

“She’s not talking a lot and I’m on my way to see her now so I can actually have a conversation with her face-to-face. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to have her tell me the whole story, and maybe she can’t, I don’t know. It was pretty horrific for her to stand and watch the whole thing unfold with her baby,” Kathy added.

Paul Schmidt, who was stabbed and killed outside a Starbucks in Vancouver on March 26, 2023, is pictured with his daughter and fiancé — whose faces are blurred. (Courtesy GoFundMe)

Paul’s death has once again reopened conversations around safety and stranger attacks, mainly about what governments are doing to address such incidents.

Opposition politicians pressed the B.C. and Liberal governments Tuesday for action to address the issue.

But for Kathy, she says it’s not something she ever thought would happen to her family.

“We see the news all the time and we see the senseless random attacks in Vancouver and it’s despicable. We don’t know what the answer is,” she explained.

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• Vancouver stabbing ups pressure on governments to address random attacks

Paul is being remembered as a “family man,” who worked hard and “lived for his family.”

“It’s tragic now that they don’t have a spouse and a dad. I lost my son. It’s just tragic and incredibly sad. We want to see justice served,” Kathy said, adding Paul’s “entire life was his daughter and spending time with her.”

“He was an artist, he was an outdoorsman, he enjoyed hiking and walking and fishing and jogging. He loved to be outdoors and loved to take his daughter to the park.”

A GoFundMe page has been started by the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden Society, with the goal of raising $200,000 to support the Schmidt family.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the campaign had raised more than $23,000.