The Texas cheerleader wounded after her pal got into the wrong car said she tried to keep her friends calm even though she was throwing up blood

• Payton Washington was shot three times in April after her friend accidentally got into the wrong car.
• The Texas high school cheerleader has spoken out about the ordeal.

The Texas cheerleader who was shot three times after her friend got into the wrong car in April said she tried to keep her friends calm even though she was gravely injured and throwing up blood.

Payton Washington, who was struck twice in her buttocks and once in her abdomen, told Good Morning America on Friday that she never actually saw the shooter and didn't know she was in danger until she heard the shots.

"I was actually eating Twizzlers," Washington said. "I didn't see him honestly."

Washington's friend, Heather Roth, accidentally got into the wrong vehicle in a parking lot outside of the H-E-B supermarket in Elgin, a carpool pickup point for cheer practice. Roth quickly exited the car after noticing a man in the front seat.

The man, who police identified as Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., then followed the girl to the car where Washington and two others were and began firing.

"I didn't know where it was coming from or anything but it being so loud that my ears were ringing, I knew to turn and do something," she said.

The teens sped off, and that's when Washington realized she was bleeding.

"I was throwing up blood and I was like oop that's not normal," Washington recalled. "So that's when I knew something, somewhere was wrong."

Despite her injuries, Washington said she tried to stay calm for the sake of her friends.

"I was trying to stay as calm as possible for the other people in the car," Washington said. "I could tell how sad and scared they were. The more calm you are, like your body will stay calm as well. Of course, it was scary but I wasn't going to act like I was scared."

Police charged Rodriguez with felony deadly conduct, and released him on $100,000 bail, according to NBC News.

Rodriguez's lawyer, Charlie Baird, told Insider Saturday that his client was an H-E-B employee who was sitting in his car on a break when an unknown female got into the car. Rodriguez had previously been robbed in his car at gunpoint in the past, was startled, and feared he was being targeted again, Baird said.

Baird said Rodriguez, who does not have a criminal record, voluntarily surrendered to police and reliquigished his gun, and although a judge initally set his bail at $500,000, they reduced it to $100,000 after hearing about his ties to the community.

"Pedro wishes Ms. Washington a full and speedy recovery," Baird said in a statement.

Washington said she continues to recover from the shooting, which left her with holes in her diaphragm and stomach, and a shattered spleen. She was able to walk in her high school graduation last month and hopes to continue cheering.

"You can literally do anything if you push and persevere," she said. "Don't doubt yourself ever. Cause you can do anything as long as you're putting your 120% into it."

The shooting was the latest in a series of incidents where people were shot for mundane reasons. In April, a man shot teenager Ralph Yarl after he got lost and knocked on his door. That same month, police in North Carolina said a man shot a 6-year-old girl when she tried to retrieve a ball that rolled into his yard.

Editor's Note: This story was updated to include comment from Pedro Tello Rodriguez's attorney.