The Province

Stabbing victim ‘fun-loving man’

Arrests made after 23-year-old bar worker killed trying to break up fight outside night club

- Nick Eagland and Tiffany Crawford neagland@postmedia.com ticrawford@postmedia.com

A 23-year-old man was killed early Saturday morning when he tried to break up a fight outside a downtown Vancouver nightclub.

Vancouver homicide investigat­ors say that shortly before 2:30 a.m., a fight broke out inside the Cabana Lounge at 1159 Granville St. and then spilled onto the street.

The victim was identified by police as 23-year-old Kalwinder Thind, who was working at the club. His friends have identified him as Kris Thind and said he started working at the Cabana Lounge as a promoter in the past month.

Thind stepped in to break up the fight, but was stabbed and later died in hospital, Sgt. Jason Robillard said in an email. Several people have been arrested and homicide investigat­ors are trying to figure out what happened.

They are asking for anyone who witnessed the fight to call police at (604) 717-2500 or crime stoppers at 1-800-222-8478.

According to a blog that Thind wrote a couple of years ago, he was born in Vancouver on Sept. 5, 1994, and graduated from H.J. Cambie Secondary School in Richmond.

Thind worked at Richmond Chrysler over the past year before he was hired at Cabana. Friends at the dealership described him as “family.”

Saturday morning, they made a memorial with a candle and photo of Thind. They shared fond memories, many about his sharp sense of humour.

Sales manager Danny Mouro, 43, said they knew Thind as “Kal” and were devastated when they heard news that he was gone. He described Thind as a “great, fun-loving man.

“(He) always came to work with a smile, made everybody laugh, always telling jokes,” Mouro said. “Great guy. Everybody loved him.” Thind left his job at Richmond Chrysler just before Christmas to begin work at Cabana, after previously working one night at a week at Bar None, Mouro said.

“He came in here just a few days ago, all excited about how he was doing this, two nights a week,” he said. “It was good for him. He was enjoying it.”

Mouro said Thind had spent months planning a trip to India and was scheduled to leave in the coming days.

Thind was known for his courage and willingnes­s to help anyone who needed it, Mouro said. He wasn’t surprised to hear that he would intervene in a fight.

Rida El-Chami, 21, was in Grade 8 at H.J. Cambie Secondary when he first met Thind, and worked closely with him at Richmond Chrysler as shift partners until Thind left.

“He got along with everyone at work,” he said. “Everyone liked him. He was always happy, always making jokes … everyone that knows him knows him for that.”

Vancouver lawyer Ronald Kumar, who met Thind a decade ago and his parents a few years ago, said Thind was hard at work on a path toward a career in real estate.

“The guy was getting into his prime and getting his career sorted out,” Kumar said. “He was just always trying to be the best he could be.”

Kumar said Thind “came from a good family” and was close to his parents. Kumar was heartbroke­n when he got a call at 5 a.m. Saturday from his brother about Thind’s death. “It was just a shock,” he said. Kumar said Thind’s upcoming trip to India was for the wedding of one of their mutual friends.

Thind attended Kwantlen Polytechni­c University for a diploma in business administra­tion, and said he wanted to become a police officer, realtor or house builder. According to his blog, he loved music, weightlift­ing, playing videos games, and watching and playing sports.

The Canucks fan was also an accomplish­ed kick boxer, and said he looked up to his father.

This is not the first time a fight has led to a major incident at the Cabana Lounge. Two years ago, a 22-year-old North Vancouver man suffered serious injuries after he was stabbed in a brawl outside the Cabana Lounge.

 ?? GERRY KAHRMANN/PNG ?? A 23-year-old employee was killed outside Vancouver’s Cabana Lounge early Saturday morning after a fight spilled out of the club onto Granville Street.
GERRY KAHRMANN/PNG A 23-year-old employee was killed outside Vancouver’s Cabana Lounge early Saturday morning after a fight spilled out of the club onto Granville Street.
 ?? — SHAY STONE ?? KALWINDER “KRIS” THIND
— SHAY STONE KALWINDER “KRIS” THIND

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