TX - Two Austin cheerleaders shot by man after practice; one accidentally got in wrong car, April 18 2023

[Betty P]

Man arrested in shooting of two Texas cheerleaders after one mistakenly got into the wrong car

One of the victims was critically injured in the shooting that unfolded early Tuesday outside an H-E-B supermarket in Elgin, Texas, police said.

www.nbcnews.com

The girls usually carpooled to practice in the evening. After their workout, they were dropping off one of the girls at her car in the HEB grocery store parking lot. She started to get into a car that wasn't hers. A guy got out of the passenger side with a gun, so the girls got back into their friends car. When he came over to their car, they began to roll down the window to apologize, but he shot them.

Two girls were shot, one is in critical condition. The man escaped, but was later identified and arrested.

 

[scapa]

Just awful. One of the cheerleaders pointlessly shot and wounded was already working with one lung.

Two Texas cheerleaders shot in parking lot after almost getting into wrong car

Suspect is in custody and charged with deadly conduct after shootings of Payton Washington and teammate Heather Roth

www.theguardian.com

 

[Betty P]

2 Texas cheerleaders shot after getting into wrong car in parking lot

Two Texas cheerleaders were shot after one of them said they had mistakenly got into the wrong vehicle in a parking lot early Tuesday morning.

abcnews.go.com

Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., 25, has been charged with deadly conduct, a third-degree felony, police said. Rodriguez allegedly fled the scene after the shooting and was arrested at his home, according to court documents.

Why is he only being charged with "deadly conduct"? He deliberately shot into that car full of innocent young women.



One of the victims, Payton Washington. She had been accepted to Baylor University.

 

[StrangeOne]

This is horrific! I did this when I was young not paying attention to what I was doing because the cars were similar. He got out of the car walked over and shot them. That is premeditated if you ask me.

 

[PrairieWind]

2 Texas cheerleaders shot after getting into wrong car in parking lot

Two Texas cheerleaders were shot after one of them said they had mistakenly got into the wrong vehicle in a parking lot early Tuesday morning.

abcnews.go.com

Why is he only being charged with "deadly conduct"? He deliberately shot into that car full of innocent young women.



One of the victims, Payton Washington. She had been accepted to Baylor University.

I suspect the "deadly conduct" charge is just what we sometimes call a "Holding Charge." The police aren't sure to charge so this is what goes up and the DA will then figure out in the next few days what the ultimate charges will be. Attempted murder would appropriate perhaps.

 

[lindylou]

Sickening! Some people should not have guns. Hopefully they survive.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

This is happening way too often, and it shouldn't be happening at all. Scary. This is yet another horrible case. Again, I don't understand how this young woman was threatening to the perp. if she immediately got out of the car after realizing her mistake. Maybe he thought she was trying to steal his car?! However, even if that were the case (which it wasn't) - she ceased being any kind of conceivable threat after she got out of the car & went back into the other car with her friends.

I'm sure at least some of us have accidentally gone to a car in a parking lot that we thought was ours (due to a similarity in color/model/etc.) & then when we looked closer, realized our mistake.

Yet again, here is an example of someone who should have never had a gun in the first place. This guy definitely needs to be put in jail for good.

 

[PrairieWind]

This is happening way too often, and it shouldn't be happening at all. Scary. This is yet another horrible case. Again, I don't understand how this young woman was threatening to the perp. if she immediately got out of the car after realizing her mistake. Maybe he thought she was trying to steal his car?! However, even if that were the case (which it wasn't) - she ceased being any kind of conceivable threat after she got out of the car & went back into the other car with her friends.

I'm sure at least some of us have accidentally gone to a car in a parking lot that we thought was ours (due to a similarity in color/model/etc.) & then when we looked closer, realized our mistake.

Yet again, here is an example of someone who should have never had a gun in the first place. This guy definitely needs to be put in jail for good.

I don't for a second think this is a case of him feeling threatened. She left and got in the other car when he got out of his car, approached and shot her in the other car.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

I don't for a second think this is a case of him feeling threatened. She left and got in the other car when he got out of his car, approached and shot her in the other car.

Yes, I agree. It was a rhetorical question. I don't think the guy felt threatened either. He was just looking for an "excuse" to shoot someone.

 

[PrairieWind]

Yes, I agree. It was a rhetorical question. I don't think the guy felt threatened either. He was just looking for an "excuse" to shoot someone.

i think he either felt "disrespected" by her, or he was part of something else that was going down, the girls inadvertantly found themselved in the middle of, and the gunman misunderstood who they were.