TEXAS – George Floyd’s four-year-old niece was shot inside her apartment New Year’s Day as she lay in her bed, police say.
Houston police were called to the scene at 3322 Yellowstone Boulevard about 2:55 a.m. on Saturday. The 4 year-old girl, Arianna, was transported to an area hospital. Local media reports she is the niece of George Floyd.
KTRK reports that police didn’t arrive at the home until around 7:00 a.m. — more than four hours after the shooting.
HPD Major Assaults & Family Violence Division Detectives A. Carroll and J. Roberts wrote: A suspect or suspects fired several shots into an apartment at the above address as four adults and two children were inside the apartment. One of the children was struck in the torso. She was transported in a private vehicle to an area hospital where she underwent surgery and is currently in stable condition.
“My daughter jumped up and said she had been hit,” Arianna’s father Derrick Delane told KPRC. “[…] the blood, the bleeding, and I grabbed her.”
This is 4-year-old Arianna. She was front and center at the marches and rallies in her Uncle George Floyd’s case.
On Saturday around 3 a.m., her father tells me she was asleep in her bed when someone fired several shots at their apartment. Arianna was hit in her torso. pic.twitter.com/Cpo1oFwase
— Mycah Hatfield (@MycahABC13) January 4, 2022
There is no suspect description or motive in the shooting.
In a statement released Tuesday, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner acknowledged a delay in cops’ response time to the incident:
“The investigation into the senseless shooting of the 4-year-old female at 3322 Yellowstone Boulevard on Saturday morning (January 1) continues to move forward. I am aware and have concerns regarding the delayed response time in this incident and have initiated an Internal Affairs Investigation. I ask the city to continue to pray for the child’s full recovery and assist in providing information that would lead to the arrest of the suspect or suspects responsible.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Houston police.
