New Mexico graduate shoots stepmom after ceremony, police say

Police in New Mexico arrested a man last week who is charged with shooting his stepmom after she tried to hug the suspect at his high school graduation.

Albuquerque police said they took Cristian Bencorno, 21, into custody on charges of aggravated assault and weapons assault charges following Wednesday’s shooting at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

Authorities said Mr. Bencorno shot his stepmother in the neck as she tried to embrace the suspect. The victim is expected to survive.

Other ceremony attendees restrained Mr. Bencorno until officers were able to take over, police said.

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

Police said the lone shot rang out during the ceremony for Southwest Secondary Learning Center, a charter school that serves students grades 9-12.