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Nationwide attention centered on Elgin after cheerleaders on their way home were hit by gunfire last Tuesday morning.
Payton Washington, 18, of Round Rock, is said to be recovering after being shot in HEB's parking lot. Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., 25, has been arrested and charged with deadly conduct, a third-degree felony. The arrest came the same morning of the shooting April 18.
"This is still an active investigation," said Elgin Police Department in a press release. "Additional or enhanced charges may be filed."
According to EPD, officers were first dispatched at around 12:15 a.m. for shots fired at the store parking lot, 1080 East U.S. 290, involving a vehicle. Shortly afterward, a call came in for a shooting victim in the 800 block of Texas 95.
"It was determined these two incidents were related," said EPD officers. "Information suggests that an altercation occurred in the parking lot of HEB, and multiple shots were fired into the vehicle."
Two vehicle occupants in a 2013 Kia sustained gunshot wounds. Washington was in critical condition and transported by helicopter to a hospital. Another cheerleader was treated and released at the scene.
The arrest affidavit indicates a witness saw an Hispanic male shoot at the Kia multiple times and then fled the area in his own vehicle.
“While at the scene, Elgin detectives obtained surveillance footage of the parking lot where the shooting occurred,” said Detective Nathan Neitsch in the affidavit. “The surveillance footage displayed the actors’ Texas license plate.”
A plate search for the suspected vehicle returned Rodriguez's name as the owner. Neitsch says Rodriguez was known to EPD through “previous law enforcement encounters.”
Police went to an address listed for Rodriguez and witnessed him enter the residence. Upon seeing him, Neitsch says he was able to positively identify Rodriguez as the Hispanic male described at the scene.
“Pedro Tello was still wearing the clothing that was observed by Elgin detectives in the surveillance
footage,” said Neitsch.
Rodriguez is in the Bastrop County Jail on a $500,000 bond.
Washington is a cheerleader for Woodlands Elite Cheer Company, based from the namesake city. According to Washington's cheer group and family, she and three other cheerleaders were carpooling and made a scheduled stop in Elgin.
“It was unfortunate,” said Lynn Shearer, Woodlands Elite Cheer Company owner, in an interview with KXAN. “These girls were just trying to get home.”
Shearer says after the cheerleaders parked, one of them accidentally began to get into the wrong vehicle. That spiraled into the tragic event.
“The guy got out and they saw he had a gun,” said Shearer, “so they tried to speed off and they shot his gun.”
Heather Roth, the other cheerleader wounded in the incident, offered more details at a vigil with the cheer group broadcast that night on Instagram.
“I see the guy get out of the passenger door, and I roll my window down, and I was trying to apologize to him for accidentally getting into the wrong car,” said Roth. “I didn't get in the car. I just opened the door, and then halfway my window was down, and he just threw his hands up and then he pulled out a gun, and then he just started shooting at all of us.”
Washington's father told NBC News that his daughter had to have her spleen removed. She's currently recovering at Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin.
"This young man has to deal with the next call, his own recollection and reflection of what he’s done and whatever God has for him,” said Keian Washington about the suspect. “That’s a sentence in itself that he has to work through.”
A GoFundMe online fundraising page is up to help with Payton Washington's medical costs. As of Monday, April 24, $138,040 has been raised of the $250,000 goal.
“She's won every title there is to win in all-star cheerleading,” said Shearer. “She's literally a role model for the kids in this industry throughout the country.”
To help donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/payton-washingtons-medical-expenses.
