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Two Texas cheerleaders shot after one gets into wrong car | Two Texas cheerleaders shot after one gets into wrong car |
(about 11 hours later) | |
Payton Washington, 18, is in hospital after the shooting on Tuesday | |
Two high school cheerleaders were shot after one of them mistakenly tried to enter the wrong vehicle in a car park near Austin, Texas. | |
One of the athletes, Payton Washington, 18, was seriously injured and is in hospital. The other victim was treated at the scene. | |
Multiple shots were fired in the incident which happened at 00:15 local time (05:15 GMT) on Tuesday. | |
Police later charged Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr, 25, with deadly conduct. | |
That charge is most often applied when weapons are used recklessly and someone's life is put at risk. In this case it is a third-degree felony which carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. | |
The shooting happened outside a supermarket in Elgin, which is about 25 miles (40km) east of Austin. The car park is often used as a pickup spot for members of the Woodlands Elite Cheer Company. | |
Cheerleader Heather Roth said she got out of her friend's car to get into her own vehicle, but mistakenly picked the wrong car. | Cheerleader Heather Roth said she got out of her friend's car to get into her own vehicle, but mistakenly picked the wrong car. |
There was a man in the passenger seat, so she retreated back to her friend's vehicle. | There was a man in the passenger seat, so she retreated back to her friend's vehicle. |
"I see the guy get out of the passenger door. And I rolled my window down, and I was trying to apologise to him... and he just threw his hands up and he pulled out a gun and he just starting shooting at all of us," she said. | "I see the guy get out of the passenger door. And I rolled my window down, and I was trying to apologise to him... and he just threw his hands up and he pulled out a gun and he just starting shooting at all of us," she said. |
Ms Roth was grazed by a bullet but was not badly injured. Ms Washington suffered more serious injuries - the owner of the cheerleading team said her spleen ruptured and her pancreas and diaphragm were damaged. | |
The girl's father, Keylon Washington, later told NBC News that she was in a stable but critical condition in hospital and doctors had removed her spleen. | |
The 25-year-old suspect Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr has been charged with deadly conduct | |
Members of Ms Washington's cheerleading squad held a prayer vigil on Tuesday night. | |
The team is preparing to compete at the Cheerleading Worlds in Orlando, Florida, over the weekend without their teammate. | |
The team organised a GoFundMe page for Ms Washington's medical expenses. The fundraiser says she was "shot twice and badly injured". | |
The suspect was arrested after his vehicle licence plate number was traced. A convenience store manager also witnessed the shooting, according to court documents. | |
The incident is the latest in a string of shootings this week involving young Americans who are reported to have mistakenly approached the wrong person or home. | |
In New York state, 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis was shot and killed on Saturday after a friend drove down the wrong driveway. And last Thursday in Missouri, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot in the head and arm when he rang the doorbell at the wrong address. | |
Related Topics | Related Topics |
Gun crime | Gun crime |
Texas | Texas |
United States | United States |