Two Texas cheerleaders were shot after one of them mistakenly got into the wrong car in a parking lot after practice early on Tuesday morning, authorities said.
Elgin Police said in an official statement on the case that Payton Washington, a high school senior on the cheer squad, had to be airlifted to a hospital after 25-year-old Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr. allegedly shot her.
Speaking to KHOU, Lynne Shearer, the owner of Woodlands Elite Cheer, said four cheerleaders from her gym were planning to carpool from near the gym back to a spot in Elgin - which is about half an hour from Austin - when the shooting incident happened.
Also speaking to the outlet, one of the teenage cheerleaders involved in the incident, Heather Roth, said she had just jumped out of her friend's car and got into what she believed to be her own vehicle. But she accidentally entered a car where the gunman was sitting in the passenger seat.
When she saw the man on the passenger seat, she got out and jumped back into her friend's car.
According to her account of events, the man got out of his car and approached Roth who was now in her friend's vehicle. When she tried to apologize, the attacker pulled out his gun and fired multiple shots at the group. Roth was grazed by a bullet and treated at the scene before she was released.
A store manager of grocery store chain H-E-B saw the man "shoot at the vehicle multiple times," before he suddenly fled, per an affidavit obtained by ABC 13.
It has been reported that surveillance footage, which has not yet been released, shows the gunshots that were fired in the parking lot.
Rodriguez was arrested and charged with deadly conduct, a third-degree felony, officials said.
"It was a harrowing night for all four of those girls," Shearer told Fox 7.
The cheer coach went on to hail Washington as a dedicated athlete and has full confidence that she will recover from the injuries she sustained during the altercation.
"She literally was born with one lung, so she from the very beginning as a baby, she wasn’t even expected to survive, let alone, excel in athletics, so she’s surpassed a lot of things already," Shearer told the news station, adding, "She’s literally an icon in the world of all-star cheerleader. I mean, definitely at our gym, but literally all around the country she has so many little kids look up to her."
Washington had previously been slated to compete in an Allstar Cheerleader World Championship this month, but will not be able to as she focuses on her recovery for the time being.
She was said have been given a scholarship to join Baylor University's tumble and acrobatics team after high school graduation.
A GoFundMe has since been set up to cover Washington's medical expenses. The fundraiser reads: "Three of our Generals and one Red Angel were viciously shot at last night in a senseless and random act of violence.
"Payton was shot twice and badly injured. She is stable in the ICU and will have a long road to recovery. Please consider helping to ease the financial burden to this family of their medical expenses. We ask that you keep our athletes in your prayers at this devestating time."
Thus far, $60,989 of an $75,000 goal has been raised for the teen.
