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Motive unknown after man shoots stepmother during graduation ceremony at Kiva Auditorium

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The graduation ceremony was winding down inside the Albuquerque Convention 
Center on Wednesday. Students of Southwest Secondary Learning Center were 
asked to hand roses to relatives and friends.

Then, police say, a loud pop rang out, and a woman grabbed her neck and 
fell to the floor. Her ex-stepson, with a gun in his hand, raised his foot 
as if to stomp on her.

But witnesses jumped in and subdued the man until police arrived. The 
woman was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

The family said the mother of three will survive but faces a long 
recovery, and the motive behind the shooting remains unclear.

Cristian Bencomo, 21, is charged with aggravated battery against a 
household member and unlawful carrying and negligently using a deadly 
weapon.

Mary Bencomo, Bencomo’s grandmother, told the Journal he has never been in 
trouble and has no criminal record. She was also at the ceremony to see 
her grandson, Bencomo’s half-brother, graduate.

“This was totally devastating because I didn’t see anything like this 
happening,” Mary Bencomo said. “I don’t even know where he got that gun, 
how he got it.”

The grandmother said she took Cristian Bencomo to get a haircut Wednesday 
morning, and they sat together during the ceremony.

“There was nothing out of the ordinary,” Mary Bencomo said. She said 
Cristian Bencomo went to congratulate his half-brother when the shooting 
occurred.

A GoFundMe page set up by relatives said the woman, who is in her 30s, is 
“facing a long road to recovery” after being shot in the neck by her “ex 
stepson.” The website said she now has a feeding tube after undergoing 
hours of surgery.

“She is not only dealing with the physical wounds but also the emotional 
trauma that comes with such a traumatic event,” according to the GoFundMe 
post.

Bencomo was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center early Friday 
morning.

The Kiva Auditorium, which is inside the Albuquerque Convention Center, 
hosted the graduation for Southwest Secondary Learning Center charter 
school. Hundreds were scheduled to attend.

Albuquerque police responded around 5 p.m. Wednesday to reports of a 
shooting inside the Kiva Auditorium.

Officers found a woman shot in the neck and several bystanders holding 
down Bencomo, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan 
Court. A witness was about to accept a rose from one of the graduates when 
he “heard a loud pop,” police were told.

Police said the man told them he was unsure it was a gunshot until seeing 
the woman holding her neck and she fell to the ground. The man said he saw 
the shooter — later identified as Bencomo — lift his leg “as if he was 
going to stomp” the woman’s head.

The witness told police he grabbed Bencomo by the belt and pulled him back 
before another bystander helped him hold Bencomo down until police 
arrived, according to the complaint. Bencomo was detained and “went back 
and forth on whether or not he wanted to speak with (police)” before 
deciding to remain silent.

Police said the stepmother told them at the hospital that she was 
congratulating her son, who had just graduated, when she spotted Bencomo 
and “greeted him.” The woman said she went to hug Bencomo and he pulled 
out a gun and shot her in the neck.

“He never said anything to her before shooting her, and there were no 
issues that she could think of that would cause him to shoot her,” 
according to the complaint.

For general questions or concerns, email web@abqjournal.com
Matthew Reisen covers criminal justice for the Albuquerque Journal. Follow 
him on Twitter at @MReisen88, call him at (505) 823-3563 or reach him via 
email at mreisen@abqjournal.com.

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/motive-unknown-after-man-shoots-
stepmother-during-graduation-ceremony-at-kiva-auditorium/article_6de1dd5c-
0e3b-11ef-b236-9771d062f7df.html

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Motive unknown after man shoots stepmother during graduation ceremony at Kiva Auditorium "A. Baldwin" <nopussy@i.shoot> - 2024-05-11 10:03 +0200

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