Enrique Padilla appears in a mugshot after being arrested for a fatal shooting at a movie theater in Albuquerque, N.M. in late June 2023
One man is dead in New Mexico, and another has been arrested, after an argument over movie theater seats ended in violence and chaos.
The dispute concerned reserved seats for a Sunday night screening of the R-rated Jennifer Lawrence sex comedy “No Hard Feelings.”
The incident occurred at the Century Rio movie theater on the Pan American freeway in the northeast part of the city, the Albuquerque Police Department said. The theater was evacuated and swept for safety after one person was treated for a gunshot wound.
“There was a sense of chaos here,” APD spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos told the Albuquerque Journal. “A lot of people were running from the theaters and trying to get out of the way.”
Michael Tenorio, 52, was the person shot and killed. He died at the scene after an off-duty APD officer tried to perform CPR.
Enrique Padilla, 19, stands accused of one count each of homicide, shooting at an occupied building, and tampering with evidence. He was arrested and charged after allegedly being found hiding in some bushes near an emergency exit for the theater, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the paper. The defendant was also shot – in the abdomen – but police have not said how they think that happened.
Padilla was taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital for treatment after he was found early Monday morning, police said.
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Witnesses on the scene would go on to tell law enforcement that Padilla and his girlfriend had been loudly arguing with the older couple prior to the shooting, the complaint reportedly says. The younger couple arrived at the 8:50 p.m. showing to find that Tenorio and his wife had been moved into different seats than those they had purchased by a movie theater employee. Tenorio and his wife paid for seats 8 and 11, but an employee suggested they sit together. That necessitated the people in seats 9 and 10 to scoot over, and they apparently did so.
But when Padilla and his girlfriend arrived, they were allegedly unhappy with all the seat arranging because it had impacted at least one of the seats they had reserved. An argument ensued, and a movie theater manager was called to settle things down. Eventually, the two couples were seated directly next to each other. Witnesses allegedly told police that Padilla threw a bucket of popcorn at the older couple – prompting Tenorio to push Padilla back up against a wall.
Then the shots rang out.
The deceased man’s wife would later allegedly tell police she saw a green laser. The APD claims that a handgun with a green laser site was recovered in the bushes where the defendant was found. Law enforcement also said that a shell casing found in those same bushes matched with a casing found inside the theater.
The incident is still under investigation, police say.
In a Twitter post, the APD asked for anyone with video of the shooting to submit footage to the department’s evidence portal.
The theater is currently closed.
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