The young niece of George Floyd was shot on New Year’s Day while she slept in her bed.
Four-year-old Arianna Delane is in stable condition after being shot when someone opened fire into her family’s apartment, NBC News reported. Authorities said that the shots were fired into the apartment at 3 a.m., with 4 adults and 2 children also inside the home.
Derrick Delane, Arianna’s father, said that the family drove the girl to the hospital and claimed that officers did not arrive at the apartment complex where the shooting occurred for over 4 hours. (RELATED: Washington State Democrats Push To Scale Back Penalties For Drive-By Shootings)
“My daughter jumped up and said she had been hit,” he said. “I (saw) the blood, the bleeding, and I grabbed her.”
ALEXANDRIA, VA – JUNE 15: Crime scene tape surrounds the Eugene Simpson Field, the site where a gunman opened fire June 15, 2017 in Alexandria, Virginia. Multiple injuries were reported from the instance, the site where a congressional baseball team was holding an early morning practice, including House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) who was shot in the hip.
(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Arianna’s father said that she had a punctured lung, liver, and several broken ribs, but is expected to recover, NBC affiliate KPRC reported.
“She’s healing very fast. The last time I checked on her she was breathing on her own. She was doing really great,” Derrick said.
Concerns over response times from the Houston Police Department prompted an internal investigation into their handling of the case.
“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,” Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said in a statement Tuesday.
Police added that there is no description of the suspect nor a motive for the shooting at this point.
“Why would my house get shot up?” Derrick Delane said Tuesday. “My daughter don’t know. I can’t explain that to her. As the father, you’re supposed to protect the kids.”