2 African American cheerleaders shot after mistakenly opening door of car in US Texas

HOUSTON - Two African American teenage cheerleaders were shot after one of them mistakenly opened the door to a wrong vehicle at a supermarket parking lot near Austin, capital of south central US state of Texas, local media reported on Wednesday.

The suspect, a 25-year-old white identified as Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., was taken into custody hours later on Tuesday in Elgin, about a 50-minute drive from Austin, the Elgin Police Department said in a news release.

Officers responded to the shooting at the H-E-B supermarket parking lot just after midnight Tuesday. One teenager, who was rushed by helicopter to a hospital, was in critical condition, while the other was treated at the scene, the release said.

Local media outlet KPRC reported that the two teens are members of an elite Houston-area cheerleading team. They had just finished a practice session in preparation for an upcoming competition before the shooting.

Upon returning to commute in a carpool with another two teammates, one of the girls opened the door of a car that she thought was hers and saw a man sitting on the passenger side. When she realized it was not the right car, she ran back to the car with the girls, KPRC reported.

"I see the guy get out of the passenger door. 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," cheerleader Heather Roth said during a prayer vigil Tuesday night that was broadcast Live on Instagram.

Roth was grazed by a bullet, but another girl, Payton Washington, was shot twice and badly injured, according to a GoFundMe spearheaded by her cheerleading company, Woodlands Elite Generals.

The suspect has been charged with deadly conduct, a third-degree felony. Police said additional charges could be filed.

Messages of support for Washington have poured in on social media in the wake of the shooting. Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page organized by the Woodlands Elite Generals to help raise money to cover her medical expenses had raised more than 60,800 US dollars as of early Wednesday, according to NBC News.

Tuesday's shooting was yet another case this week in which the victims were allegedly shot after mistakenly approaching the wrong addresses, which have renewed focus and debate around "stand your ground" laws in the United States.

Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot twice and seriously injured after mistakenly ringing the wrong doorbell in Kansas City, Missouri, while trying to pick up his siblings.

Kaylin Gillis, 20, was fatally shot by a homeowner after the car she was riding in mistakenly turned into the wrong driveway in upstate New York.