Alen Simonian suggested that the soldier, Nasimi Musayev, shot and seriously wounded Ani Avetisian inside her house in the Syunik village of Shaki out of fear.
“The house was empty,” Simonian told reporters. “He went in, had something to eat, then lay down and fell asleep … As far as I can tell, he was either injured or had some health issue. It’s a simple criminal offense.”
“Yes, he came in and they [Avetisian and her children] got scared. He [Musayev] got scared too,” he said.
Avetisian rushed to the house from the nearby town of Sisian after being called and alerted about the intrusion by one of her two children who she says were held by Musayev at gunpoint. She told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Monday that she wrestled with the soldier as he tried to kill her and the teenage children.
“If I hadn't acted at that moment, neither I nor the children would have been alive now,” Avetisian said, speaking at a hospital Yerevan where she is treated for her injuries caused by two of at least three bullets fired by the intruder.
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and parliament speaker Alen Simonian ride a campaign bus, March 21, 2026.
Pashinian effectively blamed Avetisian for the gunfire on October 7, saying that she should have waited for police to arrive at the scene instead of taking on the armed soldier. The 39-year-old woman countered that although she called the local police just before rushing to Shaki, first police officers arrived in her house at least five minutes after Musayev fled it.
Pashinian’s remarks caused outrage among opposition leaders and other critics of the Armenian government, who have hailed Avetisian as a hero. Some of them accused the premier of preparing the ground for Musayev’s release and repatriation. Simonian insisted that the soldier will stand trial in Armenia on multiple charges levelled against him.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Arpine Sargsian denied that the local police were too slow to respond to the intrusion. She said Avetisian called an off-duty policeman who reached Shaki within 10 minutes and then told the woman’s 15-year-old son to phone a police station in Sisian that sent on-duty officers to the scene.
Sargsian did not say why the policeman did not do that himself right after being contacted by Avetisian. Nor did she explain why the police did not issue security alerts to residents of Shaki and other local communities before the incident.
According to Azerbaijani authorities, Musayev deserted his military unit deployed on the Armenian border on September 26. Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) claims to have been notified by them about his disappearance on September 29.