Police are probing a possible link between the seemingly unprovoked killing of a surfer and an armed robbery near the spot where the young man was stabbed to death.

Investigators are still looking for the person responsible for the apparently random fatal attack on Kye Schaefer at Coffs Harbour, on the NSW north coast, early on Thursday.

The 21-year-old was stabbed multiple times in a car park on Ocean Parade while still wearing his wetsuit, after he arrived to go surfing at the beach.

Detectives are appealing for information about a man seen riding a bicycle in the area at the time.

An online fundraiser for the Schaefer family had raised more than double its $10,000 goal by Wednesday after receiving more than 200 donations to help pay for the young man’s funeral.

“Kye will be profoundly missed by his family, friends and members of the community,” the fundraiser’s organiser said.

Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said many people would have been walking or driving through the area at the time of the stabbing, as he appealed for any information about what led to Schaefer’s death.

“He was preparing to go for a surf when he was randomly stabbed several times, which appears to be an unprovoked attack,” Doherty told Seven’s Sunrise program on Wednesday.

Police are investigating whether the killing could be linked to other incidents in the area around the same time, including a nearby armed robbery, allegedly involving a homeless man.

A 36-year-old was charged over that robbery, accused of stealing fishing rods and two six packs of beer from another man camping in the nearby jetty area.

“We are looking at all the links in relation to not only the other robbery offences but any other causal links,” Doherty said.

Police previously said they were looking into whether Schaefer came across someone breaking into his car before the stabbing.

A crime scene was also set up at a campsite in the jetty area after detectives identified “items of interest” there.

Schaefer’s stabbing further fuelled calls for tougher knife-search laws ahead of an announcement on Tuesday that the NSW government planned to give police powers to use metal-detecting wands to scan for weapons in designated areas, similar to those that already exist in Queensland.

– AAP