Suspect Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr Arrested: Payton Washington, Woodlands Elite Cheerleader injured in Texas Shooting

Authorities in Elgin, Texas are looking into how a dispute outside an H-E-B parking lot turned violent overnight on Tuesday, resulting in a shooting. Let’s see who is Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr and what happened in detail. 

Shooting at Elgin H-E-B parking lot!

The brutal assault took place at 12:15 a.m. at the H-E-B parking lot at 1080 E US 290. The shooting in Houston’s Midtown left one person dead and three others injured.

Officers from the Elgin Police Department were summoned to the H-E-B parking lot at 12:15 a.m. for “shots fired.”

Additionally, responding officers were dispatched to a different location in the 800 block of SH 95 N., where they were later connected.

According to the preliminary information, there was a fight in the H-E-B parking lot, and shots were fired into a car. 

Several rounds were fired into a cheerleaders’ vehicle during an altercation between two groups, according to Elgin Police, as the girls were driving home from a practice in the Houston area.

Two of the passengers in the car were struck; one received medical attention on the site, while the other was severely injured and taken to hospital.

What happened to the Cheerleaders?

After practice, one of the athletes allegedly attempted to enter the wrong car, resulting in the shooting of four members of an elite competitive cheering team in Oak Ridge on Tuesday morning.

The four teenagers traveled three times a week to Woodlands Elite Cheer Company in Oak Ridge for practices. They shared rides for the roughly 360-mile roundtrip from the Elgin H-E-B.

Cheerleader Heather Roth claimed she exited her friend’s vehicle in the H-E-B parking lot shortly after midnight and unlocked what she thought was her own car.

When Roth reported a man was seated in the passenger seat, she immediately became alarmed, believing a stranger was inside her vehicle, and she panicked and got back into her friend’s vehicle.

She claimed she pulled down the window to say sorry when she saw the man approaching their car and realized it wasn’t hers.

According to Roth, the man raised his hands, drew his revolver, and began firing. The testimony was confirmed with Bastrop County sources. 

Payton Washington suffered severe injuries:

Officers report that Payton Washington, Roth’s teammate, was shot in the leg and the back while Roth, who had received a graze wound, was treated and discharged right afterward.

After being shot twice in the back, Payton Washington, a senior at Stony Point High School and a star cheerleader for the school, had grave injuries and had to be taken to the hospital.

Washington has also received multiple accolades while competing with a Houston-based cheerleading squad. On State Highway 95, half a mile away, there was another shooting victim that required police assistance. The two shootings, according to police, are connected.

Washington is a member of Woodlands Elite Cheer and Tumbling. The Houston-area academy established a GoFundMe page on Tuesday to assist with her medical costs.

The Round Rock Stony Point High School Cheer squad is also showing its support. Students were encouraged to wear purple this week to show support for the senior who plans to attend Baylor University by posting a request on the Stony Point Cheer Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon.

According to the post, the girls made a detour in Elgin at the HEB parking lot to pick up a team member. Washington, who underwent emergency surgery, is reportedly recovering at a hospital, according to the post.

Washington was airlifted in critical condition to a local hospital. “Payton opens the door, and she starts throwing up blood,” Roth said. 

A coach said during an Instagram live on Tuesday night that Washington, an incoming member of the Baylor Acrobatic and Tumbling team, had her spleen removed and several organs damaged.

Further surgeries are anticipated for her throughout the week. According to Lynne Shearer, co-owner of Woodlands Elite Cheer Company, the Round Rock ISD senior had already been competing while having just one lung. “She’s a fighter. She’s very strong,” Shearer says.

According to a Baylor University official, Felecia Mulkey, the team’s head coach, paid her a visit on Tuesday in the hospital.

Suspect Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr arrested:

Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr, a 25-year-old suspect, was taken into custody by Elgin police on Tuesday. He is charged with deadly conduct, a third-degree felony.

Police claimed to have recovered the parking lot security video that showed the instant shots were fired, but they have not made the video available to the general public.

The H-E-B manager allegedly saw the shooter “shoot at the vehicle multiple times” before he fled the scene. Additional or more severe charges could be brought as the inquiry is still ongoing.

Lynn Shearer, owner of Woodland’s Elite Cheer Co. says that the four cheerleaders were allegedly implicated in the shooting. “It was unfortunate. These girls were merely attempting to get home, according to Shearer.

Shearer claimed that the cheerleaders ride-share to her gym from the Austin region. These youngsters grew up in our gym. “We’ve known them for years, some of them literally, since they were, you know, 8,10 years old,” Shearer said. “Therefore, they resemble our family.”

“Payton has won every title there is to win in all-star cheerleading. She’s literally a role model for the kids in this industry throughout the country,” Shearer said. “Everybody knows her. She’s literally one of the very best that’s ever done this sport.”

Detectives and Crime Scene units responded to the scene. Public Information Officer, Amy Miller will provide additional information as it becomes available. She may be contacted at 512-801-5748, or [email protected]

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