After a Woman Stabbed 4 People with a Knife in Varna: Perpetrator Is in Psychiatric Care, One Victim Remains in Serious Condition

A 47-year-old Lithuanian national who stabbed four people outside a supermarket in the coastal city of Varna yesterday, May 4, has been charged with attempted murder of more than one person.

The Varna District Prosecutor’s Office said the woman has no prior criminal convictions and is temporarily residing in the country.

One elderly female victim remains in a life-threatening condition. The 80-year-old woman is still in intensive care and on mechanical ventilation.

Dr Valentin Vlasakov, head of the Intensive Care Unit at St Anna Hospital, said the patient sustained two injuries, one of which is particularly severe.

“The patient has two wounds, one of which is life-threatening and very serious. From the chest area, the knife travelled down to the liver, damaging its integrity, and ribs were also fractured,” he said.

He added: “Colleagues from thoracic surgery performed an operation. One of the injuries was non-penetrating, while the other was dangerous.”

Radoslav Lazarov from the Varna District Prosecutor’s Office said that only rapid and specialist medical treatment had prevented a fatal outcome for one of the victims currently in hospital.

“All that remains of the man’s life is that timely and competent medical intervention saved him,” he said.

The suspect has been admitted to the psychiatric clinic in Varna. She has been detained for 72 hours under a prosecutorial order, and prosecutors will request that she be remanded in custody.

A psychiatric assessment is also pending.

Radoslav Lazarov, Varna District Prosecutor’s Office: ‘As a result of this assessment, important circumstances relating to her criminal responsibility will be evaluated.’

The motive for the attack remains unclear.

Under Bulgarian law, the offence carries a possible sentence of 15 to 20 years in prison, life imprisonment, or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.