Texas cheerleader recalls being shot at after getting into wrong car

One of the elite Texas cheerleaders targeted in a parking lot shooting earlier this week recalled the moment her friend and teammate was critically wounded during a vigil less than 24 hours after the horrific incident.

Heather Roth, 21, spoke through tears during the gathering Tuesday at Woodlands Elite Cheer Company in Oak Ridge, KTRK reported.

Roth said she was leaving the gym with three friends, including fellow Woodlands Elite Generals member Payton Washington, shortly after midnight on Tuesday.

All four cheerleaders commuted 360 miles round-trip to the gym three times per week, and used an Elgin H-E-B parking lot as a carpool hub, the outlet explained.

According to Roth, she exited her friend’s vehicle and opened the door to a car she thought was her own.

She panicked when she saw a man in the passenger seat, and got back in her friend’s car.

“I see the guy get out of the passenger door, and I rolled my window down, and I was trying to apologize to him,” Roth said of the moment the gunman confronted the foursome.

“And then halfway, my window was down, and he just threw his hands up, and then he pulled out a gun and he just started shooting at all of us.”

An affidavit confirms that the H-E-B manager saw the shooter fire at the vehicle multiple times before fleeing, KTRK stated. Surveillance footage of the scene has also been obtained by police.

Roth suffered a graze wound and was treated at the scene, while Washington was struck twice in the leg and back and was flown to the hospital in critical condition.

The two other witnesses, including Generals squad member Genesis Mitchell, were reportedly unharmed.

“Payton opens the door, and she starts throwing up blood,” Roth said of witnessing her friend’s injury.

As of Wednesday morning, Washington – a high school senior from Round Rock who recently earned a scholarship to cheer at Baylor University – remains in treatment. A GoFundMe started by her loved ones has already raised over $62,000 of its $75,000 goal.

In an interview with Fox 7 on Tuesday, coach Lynne Shearer described the shooting as a “harrowing night” for the cheerleaders.

“[Payton] 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,” she said of Washington.

In an Instagram Live, another coach said that Washington suffered damage to multiple organs and had her spleen removed.

She is reportedly expected to undergo additional surgeries this week.

The incident also comes just days before the athletes were expected to compete at the Allstar Cheerleader World Championship in Orlando.

“It’s the only title [Payton] hasn’t won in AllStar Cheer. She’s literally won everything there is to win in this sport except for a world title, and this was her last chance to do that,” Shearer told KTRK.

 “Payton is the ultimate competitor. She would not want her team not to go and not be at this championship and not compete. So we will be there, and we will compete.”

The head coach of Baylor’s Acrobatic and Tumbling team, Felecia Mulkey, visited Washington in the hospital on Tuesday, the outlet 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,” Mulkey wrote in a statement.

“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.”

Tributes to all four cheerleaders also poured in on social media. Fellow Woodlands Elite athlete Madi Taylor, for example, took to Instagram Stories to express her sadness and disbelief. 

“The people in this world can be absolutely disgusting…they were four girls in a parking lot and now Payton can’t compete at Worlds,” she wrote.

“Payton is a family, she is a leader. A role model for so many people. An unbelievable tumbler. An amazing flyer [sp], a super fast kid. A super strong athlete. And she’s always been a fighter.”

On Tuesday, police arrested alleged gunman Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., 25. He was charged with deadly conduct, though KTRK reported that additional charges are likely.