Daniil Mikhailovich Monakhov (Part 2/3)
18-year-old Russian vocational boarding school student who carried out the Bolsheorlovskoye shooting on 12 October 2020 in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.
Because of its sheer length, the post is divided into three parts: Part 1: Covers his personal background - family, education, social life, health history, and other biographical details. Part 2: Delves into the October 12, 2020 shooting - the sequence of events, manhunt, aftermath, motive, and broader reactions. Part 3: (NEW UPDATE) Discusses his firearm license details and process, as well as other miscellaneous information, including his social media profiles and more. Check these out as well: Part 1; Part 3 A PDF file is also available for a more comfortable read.
Happy reading.
The Attack
Map of Monakhov’s approximate route during the attack, based on NN.ru reporting
On Sunday, October 11, 2020, Daniil Monakhov visited his 63-year-old grandmother, Galina Monakhova, in the small rural village of Bolsheorlovskoye, located in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. That same day, he had gone duck hunting with his father. The two returned to the city afterward.
The following morning, on October 12, Monakhov attended a single class session at his college before requesting leave, claiming he had been summoned by the military enlistment office. As he asked calmly, he aroused no suspicion and was granted permission to leave. Rather than visiting the enlistment office, however, he returned once more to his grandmother’s residence. Later that afternoon, around 3:30 PM, as he was preparing to head back to the city, Galina accompanied him to the local bus stop to see him off. As the bus arrived, Monakhov asked to return home to use the bathroom. He was away for approximately 10 minutes. Galina, presumably growing impatient, asked the driver to wait and rushed back inside to hurry Monakhov. Some sources alleged that during this time, he was equipping himself with the shotguns stored in the grandmother’s house, with the intention of transporting them back to the city to carry out an attack on his college. Upon returning inside, Galina likely discovered him with the firearm which led to an argument between the two. It is believed that she tried to stop him, suspecting he was planning something violent. This confrontation may have triggered an outburst, during which he shot the woman twice in the abdomen with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun at close range, fatally wounding her. She was rushed to the hospital in critical condition but succumbed to her injuries nearly a month later.
House No. 7, Galina Monakhova’s residence
Equipped with both smoothbore shotguns, a cartridge belt, and a black bag containing 40 buckshot pellets, he left the scene and encountered Sergei Napylov (58), a neighbor and head of the local fire brigade. The man came to investigate the commotion after he disembarked from the waiting bus. Monakhov fatally shot him from behind, killing him on the spot.
As he made his way towards the bus stop, he began firing at the windows of a nearby apartment building, House No. 1, where several residents had started peeking out in alarm. He shattered the windows of a second-floor apartment belonging to an elderly woman, who was unharmed. He continued down the path, now shooting indiscriminately at the bus stop area. The PAZ bus driver, who had been waiting to transport him, realized the threat and drove away promptly. Behind the bus stop, Monakhov encountered Valentina Zhogonova (63), who was on her way to feed her chickens. She was struck by multiple pellets in the arms, legs, and back, but survived. Monakhov then turned and fired several shots towards House No. 7 before continuing down the street.
The bus stop in Bolsheorlovskoye, Nizhny Novgorod
After passing one residence, he turned into the courtyard of a neighboring property. There, he saw Viktor Artyukh (66) seated near a basement entrance, sorting cranberries. Monakhov shot him in the legs; Artyukh collapsed but managed to survive. The sound of gunfire alerted two nearby neighbors, Nikolai Seleznyov (62) and Andrei Tikhomirov (56), who rushed outside. Both were fatally shot on the spot.
The property where Monakhov injured Artyukh and fatally shot Seleznyov and Tikhomirov
Following these killings, Monakhov returned to the main road and fled towards the direction of a local hospital, located at the edge of the nearby forest. Rather than venturing into the wooded area, he traced a broad clockwise path skirting the edge of the village, where he eventually took cover near its boundary.
The abandoned boiler house, the area where Monakhov sought refuge
Manhunt
A large-scale manhunt was launched shortly after the attack, involving OMON units, drones, service dogs, infrared thermal imaging, and roadblocks to prevent escape. The search continued throughout the night and lasted approximately 15 hours. Although authorities believed Monakhov was still armed and hiding nearby, his apprehension was deliberately postponed until daylight "to avoid endangering the lives of officers," according to the National Guard.
Law enforcement officers arriving to search for the shooting suspect
Local residents reported hearing a single gunshot around 2:00 AM, which was initially presumed to mark the time of Monakhov’s suicide. However, others later claimed to have heard two to three consecutive shots around 4:50 AM. These later reports were supported by physical evidence: a nearby dacha, which Monakhov had briefly taken shelter, was found with pellet-riddled holes in its second-floor windows, strongly indicating that he had discharged his weapon again shortly before his death.
At approximately 07:12 AM on October 13, Monakhov’s body was discovered by a search team near an abandoned boiler room, roughly 500-600 meters from the site of the killings. He had died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound, with a cartridge belt strapped to his body; both of his weapons and a backpack were found nearby. A local resident, Nikolai Petrovich, whose property lay near the site, observed that several corrugated slate panels beside his garden shed had been rearranged, seemingly repurposed as a makeshift mat. The detail suggested that Monakhov may have attempted to rest or compose himself before ending his life.
Monakhov’s body, found with a gunshot wound to the head the next morning
In total, Monakhov killed 4 people and injured 2 before taking his own life. Including the perpetrator, the final death toll stood at 5. He reportedly discharged his weapon 16 times during the attack, which devastated the small community of Bolsheorlovskoye.
Motive (Speculative)
Though Monakhov’s exact motive remains inconclusive, it is evident that he had long harbored a fascination with school shootings and appeared intent on replicating one at his own school. He demonstrated a clear interest in firearms and frequently engaged with violent media and video games. Based on his social media activity and how he communicated with peers at school, he could just be another Columbine or Kerch Polytechnic copycat. Additionally, some have speculated that due to his limited life expectancy because of his medical condition, this reality may have fostered a fatalistic mindset, one that led him to believe that he had “nothing to lose.” The killing of Monakhov’s grandmother was likely neither premeditated nor motivated by revenge. Despite the apparent brutality of the act, a friend testified that Monakhov held no animosity towards her and would even voluntarily visit her. As the friend put it, she simply just “got in the way.” It is possible that, upon discovering his intent with the firearms, Galina attempted to intervene. This confrontation may have triggered a moment of panic or rage, abruptly escalating the situation. With her death, Monakhov may have realized there was no going back. Returning to the city was no longer an option, and his original plan had been disrupted. Rather than flee, he chose to carry out the attack then and there – an attack he had long dreamt and fantasized about. "What's the point of him living out the rest of his days in Russia? He had major health problems – both physical and mental. And in reality, he didn’t have much time left – maybe five years. So what?" said a friend.
Aftermath and Reaction
Despite strict firearm regulations in Russia which include comprehensive background checks and mandatory medical evaluations, Monakhov was able to obtain a license without issue. This failure in the system drew public scrutiny, particularly as he had reportedly undergone treatment for depression and seen a psychotherapist. These factors did not disqualify him during the licensing process. He received medical clearance from a private clinic, and some sources have suggested the certificate may have been purchased fraudulently, though this remains unverified.
Following the attack, a postmortem psychological-psychiatric examination concluded that Monakhov was legally sane but diagnosed him with emotionally unstable personality disorder of the borderline type.
In response to the incident, psychiatrist Vitaly Baluyev – who had evaluated Monakhov during the licensing process in July 2020 – faced criminal charges for alleged negligence. Investigators argued that Baluyev had failed to identify signs of Monakhov’s personality disorder. However, the court determined that there was no direct causal link between the assessment and the attack. It also ruled that Baluyev, as a doctor at a private clinic without formal administrative authority, could not be held criminally liable. The case was returned to the prosecutor for further review, and restrictions placed on Baluyev were lifted. The clinic, Expert, later had its license revoked due to poor internal quality control and safety standards.
Monakhov’s body was later buried at the cemetery in Sormovo, a district of Nizhny Novgorod. His victims were laid to rest in the village cemetery in Bolsheorlovskoye, while the non-local was buried in a different city. Following the events, Monakhov’s relatives sold the family’s apartment. Improvised memorials were erected throughout Bolsheorlovskoye in the aftermath, including a small chapel located near the site of the attack. As a governmental response to the tragedy, regional governor Gleb Nikitin allocated financial assistance to victims’ families – 200,000 rubles to the bereaved and 100,000 to the injured.
Structure built to honor the lives lost
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Sources: (No, I am not properly formatting this section)
https://meduza.io/feature/2020/10/15/da-nastanet-sudnyy-den
https://meduza.io/feature/2020/10/13/pod-nizhnim-novgorodom-vsyu-noch-iskali-podozrevaemogo-v-massovom-ubiystve-ego-nashli-mertvym-v-neskolkih-sotnyah-metrah-ot-mesta-prestupleniya
https://dailystorm.ru/chtivo/koshek-i-sobak-ne-trogal-on-celilsya-v-lyudey-reportazh-daily-storm-iz-nizhegorodskoy-oblasti-gde-podrostok-ubil-troih-pensionerov
https://dailystorm.ru/obschestvo/denchik-umnyy-obrazovannyy-chelovek-on-vdohnovilsya-chuvakami-iz-kolumbayna
https://www.rt.com/russia/503279-russia-bus-shooting-nizhny-novgorod/
https://www.nn.ru/text/criminal/2020/10/16/69506003/
https://ngs.ru/text/incidents/2021/10/13/70189367/
https://radiosputnik.ru/20201013/monakhov-1579593848.html
https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5669774
https://sledcom.ru/news/item/1507416/?type=news
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/gunman-18-who-killed-3-22836031
https://www.pravda.ru/health/1540443-monajov/
https://mbk-news.appspot.com/suzhet/lyubitel-oruzhiya/
https://www.opennov.ru/articles/proisshestviya/borskiy-strelok-stoyal-na-vnutrishkolnom-uchete-iz-za-interesa-k-rasstrelu-v-kolumbayne.html?q=news/incidents/2020-10-15/37470&page=5
https://reporter-nn.ru/аналитика/shukher_3112/
https://progorodnn.ru/news/90869
