Coffs Harbour stabbing: Tragic last moments revealed of surfer Kye Schaefer who was stabbed moments after he left the surf
A man has revealed the horrific moment he discovered a surfer stabbed multiple times during an early morning attack on a popular NSW beach.
Kye Schaefer, 22, was fatally stabbed in the neck and chest after leaving the surf at Park Beach on Ocean Parade in Coffs Harbor shortly after 6am on Thursday.
A local man who had been sleeping in the car park said he saw Mr Schaefer lying on the ground next to his car before emergency services arrived.
“I was putting on my sweatpants to go for a run and I just saw him… he looked like he was sitting on the floor against the driver’s side door,” he told 7News.
‘All I could see were his legs in his wetsuit. He looked like he was sitting there, and I couldn’t see much of him except his legs.
“Then I came back from jogging and there were cops who wouldn’t let me in the parking lot… there were all these cops everywhere.”
The family of Kye Schaefer, 22, has mourned the sudden and tragic loss of the young man with a ‘heart of gold’
The man said Mr. Schaefer had arrived at the beach early every morning for the past week.
The revelations come as Mr. Schaefer’s family mourns the sudden and tragic loss of the young man with a “heart of gold.”
His uncle, Ralph, told 2BG radio that his cousin had a “gentle, caring nature.”
“He was a nice young man,” he said Friday.
‘He definitely had a mischievous side. He loved to laugh, but above all he just had a heart of gold.’
Coffs businesswoman Sandy Ryman told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Schaefer was a much-loved young man.
“He was an extremely gentle soul, quietly spoken, polite and well-mannered,” she said.
‘The whole family are wonderful people.
Mr Schaefer, 22, was fatally stabbed in the neck and chest after leaving the surf at Park Beach on Ocean Parade in Coffs Harbor shortly after 6am on Thursday.
“We were privileged to have Kye, his father Tony and Kye’s sister Mimi all work for us, and Tony and his wife Pam have become good friends.”
Cowper MP Pat Conaghan wrote on social media after the attack that more needed to be done to stop violent knife crime.
“My thoughts this afternoon are with the family and friends of the young man who was stabbed to death on one of our region’s beautiful beaches,” he said.
“Having two sons of my own, I can only imagine what you’re going through.”
A local man who had been sleeping in the car park said he saw Mr Schaefer lying on the ground next to his car before emergency services arrived.
Mr Conaghan urged the NSW Government to consider introducing legislation similar to Jack’s Law.
The law was recently passed in Queensland following the fatal stabbing of 19-year-old Jack Beasley on the Gold Coast in 2019.
Coffs MP Gurmesh Singh said the community was in a state of ‘significant fear and trauma’.
“I was actually in Sydney a few weeks ago for the Bondi incident and the Sydney feeling was gone overnight – this incident has done the same in Coffs,” he said.
“There is a lot of fear and trauma in the community at the moment and I would encourage anyone in need of mental health care to seek it immediately through the channels available.”