VANCOUVER — A distraught Mitch Gordic said he would happily change places with his teenage son, Luka, who was stabbed to death in the resort town of Whistler over the weekend.
“I wish I died and he could have lived,” the tearful Burnaby father of four told media. “This is the worst that could happen.”
An unruly holiday weekend in Whistler — with people on the street saying roaming groups of men were actively looking for trouble — resulted in two stabbed teens, both 19 years old.
Luka Gordic was stabbed Saturday just before midnight near Main Street, while another teen was stabbed — but not fatally — just before midnight Sunday night on Whistler Way. Police do not believe the two stabbings are related.
“At this time there is nothing to indicate that this incident was related to the incident on Saturday night,” said Sgt. Rob Knapton of Whistler RCMP.
Whistler is known as a party town, and long weekends are often full of both happy revellers and obnoxious drunks.
A grieving Mitch Gordic said young Luka never stood a chance. Gordic said he’s been told that Luka was “ambushed by 10 to 15 people” as he walked back to his hotel from a nightclub.
“I guess they organized themselves and they had knives and then they cut his artery,” said a tearful Gordic from his Burnaby home. “I can’t believe they did this to him. Luka was one of the nicest, most beautiful persons.
“Every family would want a son like that. He was so nice. He loved all his family.”
A recent graduate from Burnaby Central Secondary, he was training to be a plumber.
One of Luka’s cousins phoned Gordic at 1 a.m. Sunday to say that Luka had been hurt.
Gordic and his wife jumped in their car and began driving to Whistler, thinking they would pick him up.
But the teen had already been rushed to a medical clinic.
Before the couple even made it to the city limits, they received another call — saying their son had died.
While Gordic, his wife, his daughter, two sons and extended family deal with their overwhelming grief, they only want to honour Luka’s life.
“At this point I just want to bury my son in peace,” he said.
“I will leave everything else to the police.”
And investigators appear to be making progress. Whistler RCMP have several suspects in custody, and the Intergrated Homicide Investigation Team has been called in to lead the investigation. The victim of the Sunday night stabbing, also a 19-year-old, was treated at a medical clinic and then transferred to Vancouver for further treatment.
