( CNN ) -- A knife-wielding man attacked a woman in a supermarket , eventually cutting off her head and running away with it , government officials in Spain 's Tenerife Island said Friday . The man entered a shopping center in the town of Arona , in the Cristianos area of Tenerife , and stole a knife from the supermarket before attacking the apparent stranger , a central government spokeswoman said . Shopping center security guards were alerted and chased the man , subduing him until police arrived . The man , whom national police in Tenerife identified as a Bulgarian , was apparently known in the shopping area , the government spokeswoman said . The British Foreign and Commonwealth office confirmed Friday that a British national had died in Tenerife , part of the Canary Islands . CNN 's Al Goodman , Per Nyberg and Bharati Naik contributed to this report .
A knife-wielding man attacked a woman on Tenerife . The attacker was shot dead by police after he stabbed the victim in her home before fleeing. Security guards chased and subdued him . Police identified him as Bulgarian national .