Shots without warning. According to Texas police and local media, a man opened fire on pop cheerleaders in the southern US state after one tried to open his car door , which she mistook for her own vehicle, on Wednesday, April 19. This news item is part of a tragic series of similar events in the United States, where firearms are wreaking havoc.
A black teenager was shot and seriously injured the previous week after knocking on the wrong door of a home in Missouri. The suspect pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, according to US media. In New York State, a 20-year-old woman was killed on Saturday after being shot after driving into the driveway of a private home by mistake.
In Texas, in the small town of Elgin, it is also a misunderstanding which seems to have triggered a disproportionate reaction against four cheerleaders Tuesday evening, in the parking lot of a supermarket. Heather Roth, one of the four teenage girls, thought she opened the door of her own car, turning it into another vehicle inside which was a man. Armed, like many Texas residents, he then approached the young women who had sat in another car. “I saw the man come out of the passenger side and I rolled down my window to try to apologize,” Heather Roth told local broadcaster KTRK. “He then raised his gun and started shooting at us. »
Two of the cheerleaders were hit by the gunfire, one of them seriously and who had to be airlifted to a hospital.
The alleged shooter, a 25-year-old man named Pedro Tello Rodriguez, has been arrested and charged with action causing death, charges that may be clarified soon, Elgin police said. Cousins of the cheerleaders and often associated with American football and basketball, cheerleaders encourage sports teams in the United States, especially on campuses.