2 cheerleaders shot after trying to get into the wrong car in grocery store parking lot

Two cheerleaders were shot, one left with critical injuries, when a man opened fire in a Texas grocery store parking lot after one of the athletes accidentally tried to get into the wrong car, according to police and the owner of a cheerleading gym.

Officers responded to reports of shots fired at the H-E-B supermarket in Elgin, Texas, about 25 miles northeast of Austin, early Tuesday night, according to the Elgin Police Department.

Police said an "altercation occurred" before the man fired into a vehicle in the parking lot, injuring two people inside. One of the victims sustained serious injuries and was transported to an area hospital by helicopter, according to police.

Lynne Shearer, owner of Woodlands Elite Cheer Company, told NBC affiliate KPRC the seriously injured cheerleader is Payton Washington, who is recovering from the shooting in the hospital.

"She's literally one of the very best that’s ever done this sport… she won’t be competing this weekend unfortunately she has more surgeries in front of her," Shearer said.

"She's won every title there is to win in All-Star Cheerleading," Shearer added. "She's literally a role model for kids in this industry. Throughout the country, everybody knows her."

The other victim, Heather Roth, was grazed in the leg by a bullet, KPRC reported. Roth spoke out about the incident during a prayer vigil Tuesday evening at her cheerleading gym, according to KPRC.

"I just saw a black figure in the passenger seat, and I just shut the door as fast as I could," Roth said.

Roth said she went up to the vehicle thinking it was her car. But when she noticed a man on the passenger side, she ran away and found the right car, where the other girls were waiting.

"I see the guy get out of the passenger door," she said. "And I rolled my window down, and I was trying to apologize to him… and my window was halfway down, and he just threw his hands up and he pulled out a gun, and then he just started shooting at all of us."

Elgin Police identified the suspect as Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., 25, who was taken into custody and charged with deadly conduct, a third-degree felony, according to police.

The investigation is still ongoing and additional or enhanced charges may be added, police said.

Shearer told NBC affiliate KXAN four girls from her gym were involved in the shooting, and that the athletes carpool from the Austin area to the gym outside of Houston.

"It was unfortunate. These girls were just trying to get home," Shearer said, adding the man fired about five shots into the vehicle.

She said the cheerleaders had "grown up" in her gym.

"We’ve known them for years, some of them literally, since they were 8, 10 years old," Shearer said. "So they’re like our family."

A GoFundMe organized by the Woodlands Elite Generals to help cover hospital bills for Washington had raised more than $60,000 as of Wednesday morning.

Woodlands Elite and the Elgin Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from NBC News.

The Texas shooting comes days after two other high-profile incidents where the victims were allegedly shot after mistakenly arriving at the wrong address.

Last week, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot in the head and seriously injured after he rang the wrong doorbell to pick up his younger siblings in Kansas City, Missouri, police and attorneys for the Yarl family said. The shooting has sparked protests and nationwide outrage.

Days later, 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis was shot and killed when the vehicle she was in pulled into the wrong driveway while she and some friends were looking for a friend's house in upstate New York, according to police.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com