High school cheerleaders shot after mistakenly trying to enter wrong car

Texas authorities have arrested a man accused of shooting two high school cheerleaders after one of the teens mistook the suspect’s vehicle as her own in a local supermarket parking lot.

In a news release, the Elgin Police Department (EPD) said that Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr. was taken into custody Tuesday morning. Rodriguez Jr., 25, was charged with deadly conduct, a third-degree felony.

The police department said officers responded to a call around midnight to a H-E-B supermarket and found two individuals inside a vehicle suffering from gunshot wounds. Authorities added that the suspect fired multiple shots into the vehicle.  

Police said that one person was treated at the scene and another person, suffering from serious injuries, was airlifted to a medical facility by helicopter. 

Lynn Shearer, who owns the cheerleading gym where the victims train, told NBC Texas affiliate KXAN, a Nexstar-owned station, said they carpooled together from the Austin area.

Shearer said one of the cheerleaders accidentally tried to get into the wrong car. 

“The guy got out and they saw that he had a gun. And so they tried to speed off, and he shot his gun, like five times or so into the car,” Shearer said.

This is the third known incident of mistaken identity being the cause of a shooting incident in the U.S. in recent days.

Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old Kansas City, Mo. resident, turned himself into authorities on Tuesday after shooting Ralph Yarl twice over the weekend as the 16-year-old Black teenager accidentally went to the wrong address to pick up his younger brothers.

And New York authorities arrested and charged Kevin Monahan with second-degree murder in the death of 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis, who authorities said died Saturday night after Monahan, 65, fired twice after Walsh’s group mistakenly pulled into his driveway in upstate New York.

The Hill has reached out to Elgin Police Department for more information.

In a Facebook post, the Woodlands Elite Cheer Co., the cheerleading organization the girls were a part of, expressed their condolences on the matter. 

“We are asking for your prayers for Payton, Keyona, Heather & Genesis. Also, Big prayers for Payton as she recovers please,” the organization said. “Please keep these girls and our WE cheer family in your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate our cheer community.”