Candlelight vigil for Kalwinder Thind; Vancouver Police seeking cell phone footage of Saturday’s fight

Vigil photos by Rattan Mall

FAMILY members and friends of Kalwinder Thind, 23, who died last Saturday (January 27) when he was stabbed while trying to break up a fight just outside the Cabana club at 1159 Granville Street, held a candlelight vigil on Wednesday night on the sidewalk outside the club to pay tributes to the young man who’s being hailed as a hero.

They expressed their love for him and held a minute’s silence to show their respect. The crowd kept getting bigger despite the rain and the cold weather and police had to block off Granville Street to traffic.

One speaker noted how excited Kalwinder was as he was going to leave for India on Monday (January 29) with his dad for the first time in his life.

 

Kalwinder Thind

VANCOUVER Police are asking anyone who may have cell phone footage of the Granville Street fight that occurred on Saturday to call investigators.

The fight broke out inside the Cabana club at 1159 Granville Street just before 2:30 a.m., and then spilled onto the street. Thind, who was working at the club, stepped in to break up the fight. He was stabbed and died in hospital.

Thind was until recently a sales consultant at Richmond Chrysler and was featured on their website until Monday (January 29).

Vancouver Police investigators have determined that the fight involved two separate groups from inside the Cabana Lounge. Tension between the two groups had been brewing throughout the evening and eventually led to the fight outside.

“The evidence suggests that several people have photos and recordings of the events before, during and after this incident. They have uploaded edited footage to various social media sites but have yet to come forward to police,” said Sgt. Jason Robillard. “It’s important for our detectives to see the unedited footage – it could be crucial to the investigation.”

Investigators are working on identifying the people in the two groups and are asking individuals from both groups to call police. “This incident appears to be an isolated fight, fueled by alcohol, that got out of hand,” said Robillard. “We need to talk to the people involved as soon as possible.”

Criminal charges have not yet been laid. Five people were originally arrested and have since been released pending further investigation.

Investigators are asking anyone with pictures or video, or additional information, to call Vancouver Police Homicide Detectives at (604)717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-877-222-8477.

 

THIND’S former boss at sales at Richmond Chrysler, Danny Mouro, told The VOICE: “He was obviously a really good guy, fun-loving, always joking, kidding, big smile, full of life. I worked with him for a little over a year.”

He pointed out that in sales they look for a person with a great personality and someone who’d get along well with people and be outgoing. “He was definitely all those things,” Mouro said.

“He came to work with a big smile all the time … His presence was always known when he was at work. The minute he walked in the door you knew … He could be loud: “HEY!” … just a fun person to be around.  …  But he also knew when it was time to work,” Mouro added.

Mouro praised him as a hardworking person, noting: “He was working with us six days a week and still worked one night a week at Bar None.”

He said Thind was a strong man who worked out. He pointed out: “Obviously to be a doorman you have to be kind of a strong guy and you have to be able to take charge.”

He added: “He was not the guy who would start a fight, but definitely if something did happen, he’d be the guy who’d intervene and be involved and not back down.”

Mouro said Thind was planning a month-long trip to India to attend a friend’s wedding and was to have left Monday (January 29).

When he told his bosses at Richmond Chrysler that he’d be gone for the whole of February, they told him that was fine and he was welcome to come back. However, they also told him that they might have to hire somebody in the meantime.

Mouro said that just before Christmas Thind had probably decided that he would take even more time off “because I guess he got offered this promotion at Cabana.”

“So he was doing that two nights a week and he was enjoying it. He had come by about a week ago to say hello to everyone at work, telling us his experience at the new job and how he was enjoying it.  We were all thrilled for him,” Mouro added.

Thind, who lived with his parents in Richmond, looked up to his father, who Mouro said he believed was a builder.

He added: “He had aspirations to be into the whole building thing. I think he was planning to take some real estate courses. He was goal-oriented. He definitely wanted to make sure he did well in life.”

“He was definitely a great person to be around,” Mouro said.

According to some news reports, Thind wrote in a blog under the name “Kris Thind” when he was a business student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University that he was considering being a police officer, realtor or builder.