A Houston-area cheerleading program has appealed for prayers after a few of its members were shot in suburban Austin on Monday.
Woodlands Elite Cheer wrote on Facebook the four young women were involved “in a horrific incident” after they left practice.
“Please keep these girls and our WE cheer family in your thoughts and prayers,” the post read. “WE appreciate our cheer community.”
Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported that one of the cheerleaders allegedly got into the wrong vehicle at an H-E-B store in Elgin, which is approximately 26 miles east of the state capital.
According to KTRK, the store was where they met up to carpool from Round Rock to Oak Ridge for team practice thrice a week.
The station reported that cheerleader Heather Roth attempted to get in a car she thought was hers when she saw an unfamiliar man in the passenger seat, causing her to panic and run back to her teammate’s vehicle.
Roth reportedly apologized to the man, but the latter drew a firearm and began firing, per KTRK.
The store manager told authorities that the suspect shot the cheerleaders’ vehicle “multiple times,” with Roth grazed by a bullet and teammate Payton Washington sustaining hits to her leg and back, KTRK reported.
Washington, who’s 18 years old, was subsequently airlifted to an Austin hospital, and a GoFundMe has been set up to help defray her medical expenses, Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported.
As of Tuesday, the page raised more than $50,000.
“She’s a mentor and a role model to so many kids in this industry,” Woodlands Elite owner Lynne Shearer told KHOU.
Austin FOX affiliate KTBC reported that Elgin police arrested the purported shooter – identified as 25-year-old Pedro Tello Rodriguez, Jr. – and charged him with deadly conduct.
According to KTBC, Washington is slated to attend Baylor University (BU) in Waco where she’ll continue her athletic career.
Her future coach, Felecia Mulkey, was among the many people who expressed confidence in a full recovery for the Round Rock Stony Point High School senior.
“I have no doubt she’s going to get through this,” Mulkey said in the report. “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.”
