Father gets stabbed to death after 'asking man not to vape near his toddler'

A man has been stabbed to death outside of a Starbucks after he allegedly asked a man not to vape near his three-year-old child.

Canadian man Paul Stanley Schmidt and his young daughter Erica were standing outside the Vancouver coffee shop while his fiancée, Ashley Umali, was getting the drinks for the family at about 5:30pm on Sunday.

While they were waiting, Schmidt asked a man nearby not to vape near his toddler, according to the New York Post.

But the request was one that would soon prove fatal, with the vaping man accused of stabbing Schmidt in response.

GoFundMe

Police have not yet confirmed what the motive behind the attack was and said 'circumstances that led up to the fatal stabbing remain under investigation'.

The incident was caught on camera and shared on social media, showing the 37-year-old dad clutching his stomach before he staggered and dropped to the ground, lying in a pool of blood.

Schmidt's mother, Cathy, said she cannot believe what has happened.

"This is so horribly wrong what happened. He was just trying to protect his daughter. I’m angry and I’m sad," she said.

"It all started because he was vaping beside the baby. Ashley’s in shock. She watched the whole thing."

Cathy added: "She’s so devastated."

Inderdeep Singh Gosa, 32, has since been charged with second-degree murder.

The late Schmidt's mother revealed she would like to see the charge upgraded to first-degree murder.

A charge of first-degree murder requires proof of premeditation.

Joshua Rainey / Alamy

The heartbroken mom told CityNews she has struggled to comprehend how no one rushed to her son's aide in his last few minutes alive.

"I was incredibly surprised that nobody from inside the Starbucks called for help, nobody outside called for help," she said.

"It wasn’t until basically he was in dire straits that somebody flagged down an officer on the sidewalk.

The heartbroken mother added: "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?"

A GoFundMe page has been started to raise money for the family as they grieve the loss of their son, fiancé, and father.

It says: "This tragedy has impacted and sent shockwaves of grief and heartache across the community and it is emotionally gut-wrenching to fathom what his family had to witness in horror."

It has a goal of $200,000 and has already raised more than half that amount in just one day.