Woman attending graduation ceremony shot in neck by stepson, police say

KOB

A 21-year-old man was arrested for shooting his stepmother during a charter school graduation ceremony, police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said.

The shooting occurred shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Police said they were called to the venue for what was initially believed to be an active shooter but when officers arrived they "discovered it was a single shot fired by one individual."

A woman was injured and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Cristian Bencomo, 21, was arrested and was booked on charges of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, aggravated assault and two counts of unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon, online jail records show. It's not clear if he has obtained an attorney.

Police said a graduation was taking place for Southwest Secondary Learning Center. The stepmother was attending the graduation of her son. When her stepson arrived, she started to hug him and he allegedly pulled out a gun and shot her in the neck, according to authorities.

"As you can imagine there was a lot of chaos at the time. It's going to take detectives a while to track down potential witnesses," police said at a news briefing.

A motive for the shooting remains unclear.

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