Sofia shooting

Sofia shooting
Location	Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria
Date	December 25, 1974 20:45 – 23:00
Attack type	Mass shooting, stabbing
Weapons	.380-caliber Walther PP pistol Finnish knife
Deaths	8
Injured	8
Perpetrator	Branimir Donchev Delchev
Verdict	Deemed mentally unfit to stand trial, sentenced to indefinite rehabilitation in a mental hospital

Sofia shooting is a mass shooting that occurred on December 25, 1974, at Sofia, Bulgaria.

Background

On December 25, 1974, Branimir Donchev and two classmates watched the film The Godfather in a Sofia cinema. According to some accounts the film made a strong impression on Branimir and his friends with its tension, murder and gory scenes and was what caused the bloody rampage, but according to others Branimir had pre-planned the shooting and the film only made him execute it earlier than planned. After the movie he split up with his friends and arrived home, where he found his brother and cousin-in-law. His cousin-in-law was adopted by his aunt and they were not related to each other. She was a first-year chemistry student at Sofia University. According to Branimir's diary (which was later found by police) he was in love with her, but had his advances rejected beforehand. Out of jealousy for his cousin, a fight broke out between the two brothers, with Branimir coming out on top due to his strength. His cousin left the apartment while the two were fighting and went to her apartment, located inside Dormitory Building #1, belonging to the Sofia University. After the fight, Branimir took his father's handgun, a .380 Walther PP pistol, multiple 7 round magazines of ammunition and a Finnish knife. Armed with this, Branimir left his home and made his way to Dormitory Building #1. According to eyewitness on his way to the building Branimir acted paranoid, constantly switching busses and trams, changing routes and even running. He arrived at the building around 19:00. He later said that he thought she was cheating on him there with "enemies of our people's government", which enraged him.

Attack

He arrived at his cousin's room but did not find her there. He found an unknown male inside and quickly left the room. The shooting started at 20:45 when Branimir broke into room number 519. Inside were 3 people celebrating the birthday of an exchange student from Vietnam. He insulted and humiliated them, before opening fire with his gun. He killed one of them and wounded the other two. One of the wounded later died in hospital on December 28. He left the room and opened fire on people in the hallways of the building. Some of his victims were both shot and stabbed. When no more people were left in the hallways, he started knocking on rooms and shooting inside. In one of these rooms, were a young couple that was expecting a child. They were both killed by Branimir. Following their murder two other students attempted to subdue Branimir. During this altercation, the attacker seriously injured both of them, and one later died in hospital. Afterwards, the attacker was successfully detained by others, while he was shouting that he was a special agent performing a secret task. He also falsely claimed that there was another shooter in the dormitory. The students restrained Branimir and waited for the police to arrive. The incident was later covered up by the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Secret Services as not to appear weak and to hide the police's slow response time, which let the shooting last for hours as well as to ignore the fact that there weren't any strict gun laws put into place that could've prevented this. In total Branimir fired 36 shots. Six died at the scene, two more died while in hospital, and another eight were injured. One of the killed and three of the wounded were foreign nationals.

Perpetrator

Branimir Donchev Delchev (Бранимир Дончев Делчев) was born on October 4, 1957. He came from a wealthy family, lived in the central part of Sofia and had everything he wished for. His father was the Deputy General Director of DSO "Stara Planina". Because of the nature of his job, he traveled abroad a lot and spent very little time with children. His mother was a cyclophenic or schizophrenic and was often treated in different hospitals. In 1971, she died when she hanged herself in the attic of the family's home. Branimir also had a twin brother and an older sister. He was mentally unstable and was diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses. According to friends, Branimir also had a hatred for Asian people.

Aftermath

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 and for having children with a mentally ill woman. After serving his sentence, he was released and had to pay a large fine. His fate after that remains unknown. His brother and sister were examined by psychiatrists and his brother was diagnosed with an unknown mental illness. 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.

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. He was prescribed compulsory psychiatric treatment and placed in a psychiatric hospital in Lovech. 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. He was later secretly buried in an unnamed grave in Botevgrad. Following the shooting the Godfather's screening in Bulgaria was severely limited, and scenes deemed "too obscene" were censored.