Star Texas cheerleader Payton Washington, teammate shot after trying to get into wrong car
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Two Texas cheerleaders were shot when they mistakenly tried to get into the wrong car to carpool home after practice in Texas, leaving one of them in critical condition, according to reports.
Lynne Shearer, the owner of Woodlands Elite Cheer, told KHOU four cheerleaders from her gym were carpooling from the Woodlands area to head back to their meeting spot in Elgin — 30 minutes from Austin — shortly after midnight when they got into an altercation with the alleged gunman.
One of the teenagers told the news outlet she thought she was getting into her car, but mistakenly entered the wrong car occupied by the gunman, who was sitting in the passenger seat.
When she tried to apologize, the man pulled a gun, the station reported.
At the parking lot of supermarket chain H-E-B, a store manager saw the suspect “shoot at the vehicle multiple times” before fleeing, according to an affidavit obtained by ABC 13.
Surveillance footage — not yet released to the public — reportedly shows the shots fired in the parking lot.
Police said one of the cheerleaders, Heather Roth, suffered a graze wound and was treated at the scene, while another, Payton Washington, was shot in the leg and back, news station KTRK reported.
Washington, a high school senior on the cheer squad, was airlifted to a hospital,police said.
Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr. was arrested and charged with deadly conduct, a third-degree felony, police said.
“It was a harrowing night for all four of those girls,” Shearer told Fox 7.
The cheer coach said Washington is a determined athlete who she knows will recover from her injuries.
“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 was supposed to compete in an Allstar Cheerleader World Championship this month, but won’t be able to as she fights to make a full recovery.
She reportedly earned a scholarship to join Baylor University’s tumble and acrobatics team after high school graduation.
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