Texas Cheerleader Fighting for Her Life After Being Shot by Man After Her Friend Opened Door of Wrong Car

"I see the guy get out of the passenger door and I roll my window down and I was trying to apologize. He just threw his hands up and then he pulled out a gun and just started shooting at all of us."

A cheerleader is fighting for her life after being shot in the back when a fellow cheerleader opened the door of the wrong car at a mall parking lot.

Payton Washington, 18, was with three other cheerleaders returning home after a night of practice.

Her fellow cheerleader Heather Roth says she thought she was getting into her own car, but it was midnight and dark outside. As a result, she didn't realize it was not her car she was getting in that night.

The car door was unlocked, and when Heather opened it, she saw a stranger in the passenger seat.

The cheerleader quickly realized her mistake and jumped out to go to her car.

"I see the guy get out of the passenger door and I roll my window down and I was trying to apologize," Heather says. "He just threw his hands up and then he pulled out a gun and just started shooting at all of us."

Payton was hit twice in the leg and back. She then started to throw up blood, according to Heather.

She was medevacked to a hospital where she is in intensive care.

"They went in yesterday and they did a lot of repairs on all the damages that she had internally," Woodlands Elite Cheer owner Lynne Shearer tells Inside Edition. "Her spleen was ruptured. They removed that her pancreas was damaged ."

Roth was also grazed by a bullet.

The teens all cheer for the Woodlands Elite Generals the Houston suburb of Elgin,Texas.

Police announced on Tuesday that a suspect had been arrested in the case.

Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr. has been charged with deadly conduct and could face additional charges after police complete their investigation.

 

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