Nicholas Nwonye, a 46-year-old Nigerian, was stabbed to death in Canada last Friday, in an attack the police described as “random and unprovoked.”
According to Calgary Herald, a Canadian newspaper, the father of three children was on his way home when the “deadly” attack took place.
The incident occurred on the westbound platform of the City Hall LRT station in downtown Calgary.
He was reportedly stabbed in the chest and abdomen “by a man he had never met”.
Nwonye was rushed to the hospital, where he later died.
He was said to have recently moved to Canada with his wife and three children from Nigeria and was only four weeks into his nursing programme.
The suspect – Keeton Michel Gagnon – was reportedly caught by police when he attempted to flee the scene and has been charged with second-degree murder.
Friends remembered Nwonye as “a deeply spiritual man whose faith formed a large part of his life.”
“He was just such a treat to have there,” Rhonda Hersak, an instructor at Bow Valley College, where Nwonye was enrolled in the school’s practical nursing programme, was quoted to have said.
“He was a very kind, empathetic individual. He smiled all the time.”
Despite only being a student for a short time, Hersak said Nwonye had made a “definite impression,” both on his fellow classmates and the faculty.
“He had an impact. He had a really big impact in the classroom. He will be missed in the classroom. I know this for a fact,” he said