Sofia shooting

The Sofia shooting is a mass shooting that occurred on December 25, 1974, at block No.1 of Student City (Bulgarian: Studenski Grad) in Sofia, Bulgaria.^[1] On the evening of that day, the perpetrator, 17-year-old Branimir Donchev, entered the building carrying his father's firearm and murdered six people, as well as injuring a further ten.^[2] Two of the wounded later died of their injuries.^[1][2] To this day, the attack remains the deadliest mass shooting in Bulgarian history.

On the night of December 25, 1974, 17-year-old Sofia University student Branimir Donchev - along with two friends, Valerie and Bozhidar - watched The Godfather at a cinema in Sofia.^[2][3] Some accounts claim that the film's violence and tension had a profound impact on Branimir and influenced the rampage that followed.^[3][4]

After the movie, Branimir and Valerie departed from Bozhidar and returned home, where he found his twin-brother, Delyan, and his cousin-in-law, Tsvetelina, whom had been adopted by his aunt and was not biologically related to him.^[1][5] She was a first-year chemistry student at Sofia University and originally from the countryside.^[1][3] According to a diary later recovered by police, Branimir was in love with her, but she had previously rejected his advances.^[2][3][5]

An argument soon sparked between Branimir and his brother, which escalated into a fight.^[1][5] The reason was possibly due to Jealousy over Tsvetelina.^[5] Branimir overpowered his brother due to his greater strength, with the fight only endling when Tsvetelina broke up the two before leaving the home in tears.^[1] She returned to her residence at Dormitory Building No.1 of Student City, designed for students at Sofia University. Following the fight, Branimir took his father's .380 Walther PP pistol, several seven-round magazines, and a Finnish knife. Armed with these, he left home and headed toward the dormitory.^[1][4] He also apparently played with the gun at a friend's home, possibly that of Valerie's.^[3]

Witnesses later reported that he behaved erratically on the way - switching buses and trams, changing his route repeatedly, and at times running.^[1][5] He arrived at Dormitory Building No.1 shortly before 20:00 p.m.^[1][4] Branimir later claimed he believed that his cousin-in-law was meeting with “enemies of our people’s government” there, which infuriated him further.^[2]

Branimir arrived at his cousin's residence at Room 410, but found she was not present.^[5] Some sources claim that he encountered an unidentified man in the room and left quickly, whilst overs state that Branimir entered the room and fired multiple shots at nothing in particular.^[4][5] The shooting began when Branimir forced his way into Room 519, where three people were celebrating the birthday of a Vietnamese exchange student.^[2][3][5] The exchange student was one Branimir reportedly disliked.^[5] Upon entering the room, Branimir opened fire, with one person being killed instantly and two others being wounded; one of the survivors later died in hospital on December 28.^[1]

After leaving the room, Branimir began shooting at people in the hallways of the dormitory.^[4][5] Several victims were both shot and stabbed.^[4] Once the hallways were empty, he proceeded to knock on doors and fire into rooms.^[3][4][5] In one of these rooms, he encountered a young couple expecting a child, both of whom he killed.^[1]

Following this, two students - Imet North and Stoyan Agov - attempted to overpower him.^[2][4][5] During the struggle, Branimir seriously injured both men, with Agov later dying in hospital.^[1] He was eventually subdued by student Atanas Nachev while shouting that he was a “special agent” on a secret mission and falsely claiming a second shooter was inside the building.^[5] Nachev restrained him inside a nearby room until police arrived.^[5]

The Bulgarian Communist Party and the Secret Services later suppressed information about the incident to avoid seeming weak and to conceal the slow police response, possibly due to the nation never seeing such a death toll in similar attacks before.^[2][5] In total, six people died at the scene, two more succumbed to their injuries in hospital, and eight others were wounded. Among the victims, one of those killed and three of the injured were foreign nationals.^[1]

Branimir Donchev Delchev (Bulgarian: Бранимир Дончев Делчев) was born on October 4, 1957, along with his twin brother Delyan Delchev. The two came from a wealthy family, with his father Doncho Delchev working as the Deputy General Director of DSO "Stara Planina". Because of the nature of his job, he travelled abroad a lot and spent very little time with children.^[1][5] His mother was a cyclophenic or schizophrenic, causing her, in 1971, to commit suicide in the attic of the family's home.^[2][3][4] Branimir also had an older sister, Totka.^[2][3] He was mentally unstable and was diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses, which he had inherited from his mother.^[3]

Immediately after the arrest, the house where Branimir lived was searched by police. His father was arrested and sentenced to 4 years in prison for negligent possession of a weapon.^[2][4][5] After serving his sentence, he was released and had to pay a large fine.^[2] His brother and sister were examined by psychiatrists and his brother was diagnosed with an unknown mental illness.^[2][4][5] He spent a lot of time in and out of mental institutions. He often had periods of mental breakdowns and the authorities were afraid that he would go down his brother's path. In 1988 he died by suicide by jumping off a balcony inside a mental hospital.^[2][4]

Branimir himself underwent five forensic examinations. In conclusion, it was said that he had a severe case of schizophrenic psychosis. He was found insane and thus could not stand trial.^[5] He was prescribed compulsory psychiatric treatment and placed in a psychiatric hospital in Lovech.^[4] On February 7, 1975, Branimir Donchev was supposed to be taken to the psychiatric hospital. He was being escorted by two officers in a police car. The officers made a stop in the town of Pravets as Branimir complained that he had to use the restroom. In reality, Branimir tried to escape and was fatally shot by the officers.^[2][4] He was later secretly buried in an unnamed grave in Botevgrad.^[2] Following the shooting the Godfather's screening in Bulgaria was severely limited, and scenes deemed "too obscene" were censored.^[4]

• List of mass shootings in Bulgaria
• 1974 Olean High School shooting; a school shooting in the United States that also occurred in 1974