A 19-year old is being mourned after he was fatally stabbed at a house party in northwest Mississauga early Saturday morning.

Friends are describing the teenager, identified by police as Daniel Smith, as a “hero,” saying he may have only been trying to break up a fight when he was stabbed.

Peel regional police were called around 1:15 a.m. to a Meadowvale West residence near Tradewind Dr. and Winston Churchill Blvd., and located a man with stab wounds to his chest. He was rushed to hospital, but was later pronounced dead.

“It is quite sad,” said Const. Bally Saini of Peel’s 10th homicide of 2018.

She added that due to a large number of people present at the party, police are hopeful that they will be able to interview multiple witnesses about what happened.

Friends have already taken to social media to mourn him, saying Smith was a happy and kind person, who was always there to help others.

“He was a hero without a cape, especially in this case,” said Mitchell Mukherjee.

Mukherjee, a friend of Smith’s who played soccer with him for the Erin Mills soccer club four years ago, said Smith was “a protector.”

“He didn’t really like to see people getting pushed around,” said Mukherjee. He added that Smith was never a violent person, and that even in sports “he never wanted to fight people, he always wanted to shake their hand ... and he’d argue with any conflict that happened within our games.”

Although Mukherjee wasn’t at the party — he was supposed to go, but decided to cancel — he said that friends who were there are reporting that Smith was acting on his protective nature when he died.

“I understand he actually stood in front of the knife, which was going for someone else, and he tried to break up the fight, break up what was happening,” Mukherjee said.

Police said they didn’t have a confirmed timeline of the events of that night, but that they are looking into reports of the fight and all other aspects of the incident. They are hoping to speak to anyone who interacted with Smith at the party that night.

Mukherjee said Smith was the first person to welcome him to the soccer team they shared when he joined. He said got to know Smith during a team trip to Pennsylvania, where they bonded a lot off the field.

“He was one of the best players I’ve ever played with,” said Mukherjee.

He said Smith was instrumental in the team’s success during the tournament, winning the championship in their group. Soccer, Mukherjee said, was one of Smith’s “biggest passions.”

Numair Ahmad, who knew Smith since they were in Grade 9, said he was a selfless person, who was willing to help people anytime. He also said Smith was one of the funniest guys he had met, always making people laugh.

“He was an all-around good guy who had his life taken because of someone else’s actions.”

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Mukherjee said that many people in their community are shocked by the tragic, “senseless” incident. A GoFundMe page set up to help Smith’s family said Smith “lost his life as a hero,” and that he “was helping when no one else would.” The goal is set for $15,000, and in one day’s time, contributions from 265 people had raised more than $11,780 (as of Monday morning). A vigil was also held on Saturday night to remember Smith.

Police said they do not have any suspect info at this point, but believe it to be an isolated incident.

The Peel Homicide Bureau is investigating. Police are going through video surveillance and appealing for anyone with more information to contact them at 905-453-2121 ext. 3205 or Crime Stoppers.

With files from Ilya Bañares

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