Array
One of the elite Texas cheerleaders targeted in a parking lot shooting earlier this week recalled the moment her friend and teammate was critically wounded during a vigil less than 24 hours after the horrific incident.
Heather Roth, 21, spoke through tears during the gathering Tuesday at Woodlands Elite Cheer Company in Oak Ridge, KTRK reported.
Roth said she was leaving the gym with three friends, including fellow Woodlands Elite Generals member Payton Washington, shortly after midnight on Tuesday.
All four cheerleaders commuted 360 miles round-trip to the gym three times per week, and used an Elgin H-E-B parking lot as a carpool hub, the outlet explained.
According to Roth, she exited her friend’s vehicle and opened the door to a car she thought was her own.
She panicked when she saw a man in the passenger seat, and got back in her friend’s car.
“I see the guy get out of the passenger door, and I rolled my window down, and I was trying to apologize to him,” Roth said of the moment the gunman confronted the foursome.
“And then halfway, my window was down, and he just threw his hands up, and then he pulled out a gun and he just started shooting at all of us.”
An affidavit confirms that the H-E-B manager saw the shooter fire at the vehicle multiple times before fleeing, KTRK stated. Surveillance footage of the scene has also been obtained by police.
Roth suffered a graze wound and was treated at the scene, while Washington was struck twice in the leg and back and was flown to the hospital in critical condition.
