ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Police say Victoria Bencomo was shot during a high school graduation ceremony Wednesday at the Albuquerque Convention Center. According to APD, the gunman was her stepson.

The suspect, 21-year-old Cristian Bencomo, was set to face a judge Thursday but court officials say Cristian didn’t cooperate with MDC officers and missed his first appearance.

Victoria is still in the hospital. Family members say she’s had multiple surgeries and she is recovering.

“We made it all the way through graduation – it was really lovely until it wasn’t,” said Mary Ward, who witnessed the shooting. “They were like, OK students, go give the rose to someone who has impacted you or is meaningful to you. I was watching my student, she was coming to the right of me, then I looked to the left, to the other side, there was a crowd of people and then there was a big pop.”

Police say Cristian shot his stepmom, Victoria, and the bullet went through her neck.

“All of sudden they started shouting, ‘Get down, get down!’ and like, it just, it was overwhelming because that situation is so scary,” Ward said.

Police say witnesses saw Cristian attempting to kick Victoria after she fell to the ground and that’s when multiple men tackled him and held him down until officers arrived.

“This incident was isolated between the two of them and their relationship, not a broader thing, it was a domestic situation,” said Gilbert Gallegos, APD spokesman.

Victoria was taken to UNM Hospital for medical care. Her family says she now needs a feeding tube.

While in the hospital, Victoria told police that Cristian didn’t say anything to her before pulling out the gun and she couldn’t think of any issues between them.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help support Victoria during her recovery.

KOB 4 reached out to the district attorney’s office about the case. They said they couldn’t comment on a pending case, but did say it will be taken up by the new gun crimes unit.