Texas cheerleaders shot after one says she got in wrong car
- Heather Roth quickly left, but a passenger in the vehicle followed her and opened fire, grazing Roth and hitting teammate Payton Washington in the leg and back
- The attack is the latest in a string of recent US shootings apparently sparked by someone showing up at the wrong place
A man shot and wounded two cheerleaders in a Texas supermarket car park after one of them said she mistakenly got into his car thinking it was her own – the latest in a string of recent US shootings apparently sparked by someone showing up at the wrong place.
The shooting in Elgin, east of Austin, happened early Tuesday in a car park that serves as a carpool pickup spot for members of the Woodlands Elite Cheer Company, team owner Lynne Shearer said.
Heather Roth, one of four team members transferring rides in the lot after practice, said she got out of her friend’s car and into a car she thought was hers, but there was a stranger in the passenger seat, KTRK-TV reported.
She said she panicked and got back into her friend’s car, but the man got out of his vehicle and approached. She said she tried to apologise through her friend’s car window, but the man threw up his hands, pulled out a gun and opened fire.
Roth was grazed by a bullet and was treated at the scene, police said. Her teammate Payton Washington, 18, was shot in the leg and back.
“Payton opens the door, and she starts throwing up blood,” Roth said.