Arianna Delane George Floyd’s 4 year old niece shot in targeted attack while sleeping at Houston home. No arrests or known motive.
George Floyd’s 4-year-old niece was shot while sleeping in her bed on Saturday after a gunman opened fire on her home on New Year’s Day, Houston police said.
Arianna Delane was shot in the torso and was in stable condition after emergency surgery, police said. The bullet punctured her lung and liver and also broke three ribs, ABC 13 Houston reported. Her family identified her as Floyd’s niece.
Arianna was one of four adults and two children who were in the Houston apartment around 3 a.m. when it was shrouded with bullets. The gunfire that entered the second story hit the child who was asleep in the front bedroom.
‘My daughter jumped up and said, ‘Daddy, I’ve been hit’ and I was shocked until I seen the blood and I realized my 4-year-old daughter was really hit,’ the girl’s father, Derrick Delane recalled. ‘She didn’t know what was going on. She was asleep.’
Police said in a statement they do not know if it was one person or multiple people firing the shots. Cops have no suspects and don’t know a possible motive.
Internal affairs launched over police response time
Arianna was asleep in her bed when she was shot, police said. Her family often brought her along to marches and rallies calling for justice for her late uncle.
Ex-Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for murdering George Floyd after he held his knee on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds in May 2020.
George Floyd grew in Houston and is buried there. His arrest and death led to nationwide protests that called for an end to racial inequality and police brutality.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner launched an Internal Affairs investigation into the department’s response time to the shooting. Arianna’s father said police didn’t arrive until 7 a.m., more than four hours after the time of the incident.
Police urge anyone with information in the case to contact HPD Major Assaults and Family Violence Division at 713-308-8800 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).
