US: 2 Texas cheerleaders shot after one mistook suspect's vehicle for her own
Apr 20, 2023
Texas [US], April 20 : Two Texas cheerleaders were shot after one mistook the suspect's vehicle for her own in a supermarket parking lot, US-based ABC News reported.
According to authorities, the two cheerleaders were shot after one of them said they had mistakenly gotten into the wrong car in a parking lot after practice.
As per ABC News, one of the victims was treated and released at the scene on Tuesday morning and the second one was helicoptered to a hospital in critical condition, Elgin police said.
The police said that Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., 25, has been charged with deadly conduct, a third-degree felony. Rodriguez allegedly fled the scene after the shooting and was arrested at his home, according to court documents.
A cheerleader with the Woodlands Elite Cheer Co., Heather Roth, on an Instagram Live said that she and three other cheerleaders had finished practice when they went to a carpool lot just after midnight Tuesday.
Roth said she got out of her friend's car and opened the door to a car she thought was her own, but a man was in the passenger seat. She said she got out of the car and back into her friend's car.
When the man approached their vehicle, Roth said she rolled down the window to apologize, and the man started shooting.
Elgin is about 25 miles east of Austin.
One of the injured cheerleaders, Payton Washington, has been accepted to Baylor University and its acrobatics ad tumbling team, ABC News reported.
Baylor's acrobatics and tumbling coach Fee Mulkey in a statement released by the university said: "Payton is a strong young lady; if you know her, you know that about her. I have no doubt she's going to get through this. She's an amazing athlete but a better human, and that's why she's a part of our Baylor family. My prayers are with Payton and her teammates that were involved in last night's tragic event, I know mental wounds also leave scars. We want to lift up the athletes and their families during this difficult time. We love Payton and we wish her well as she recovers."
