Young American Girl, 7, Shot Dead by Mexican Police During High-Speed Cartel Chase Near U.S. Border
Seven-year-old U.S. citizen Aranza Aidelany was fatally shot in the head by a Mexican police helicopter during a cartel raid in Matamoros.
Nov. 12 2026, Published 2:50 p.m. ET
A 7-year-old American girl was fatally shot by a Mexican police helicopter during a cartel operation near the Texas border.
Three state officers were involved in the incident and are under review, RadarOnline can report.
The Shooting in Matamoros
Claudia Pardo García said the family was fired on after her husband tried to explain they were civilians.
Aranza Aidelany, a U.S. citizen, was killed on October 29 in Matamoros, Mexico, near Brownsville, Texas. She was traveling in a pickup truck with her parents and four siblings when Mexican police allegedly opened fire from a helicopter.
Aranza was struck in the head.
Her mother, Claudia Pardo García, was wounded in the knee and required emergency surgery.
A 13-year-old brother was also allegedly shot at, according to local reports.
Medical help took about two hours to reach the family because of roadblocks in the area.
'She Was Already Dead'
At her daughter’s funeral, García said she wanted those responsible to pay.
García told Mexican media that a police helicopter began following their vehicle as they headed home. Her husband got out to explain they were civilians traveling with children.
The helicopter then opened fire.
García said she crawled with her daughter toward a nearby "plot of land" while the aircraft continued "circling" above them.
"I kept telling them to leave it alone because I was lying there with the girl, and she was already dead," she told Infobae.
At a funeral held November 7, she demanded accountability.
"I want justice for my daughter," she said. "I want whoever did this to pay, because there was no aggression on our part. My little girl was just starting to live."
Gulf Cartel Member Got Arrested
The operation led to the arrest of a suspected high-ranking Gulf Cartel figure.
The shooting occurred during an operation that led to the arrest of Alfredo Cárdenas Rodríguez, known as Axel, described as second-in-command of the Ciclones cell of the Gulf Cartel.
Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said Rodríguez was linked to homicides, kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and human trafficking into the United States, and was accused in a May attack that killed one officer.
Authorities seized weapons, ammunition, drugs and a vehicle; both detainees were transferred to Mexico City.
Investigation of Officers
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Three Tamaulipas State Guard agents are being investigated but remained on duty.
Three members of the Tamaulipas State Guard are under investigation by the state attorney general’s office for possible involvement.
As of November 6 they remained on duty, according to State Secretary of Public Security Carlos Arturo Pancardo Escudero.
An internal affairs inquiry was also launched.
Attorney General Jesús Govea said officers were responding to an alleged attack from the ground during roadblocks and that the investigation had made “significant progress.”
No officers had been arrested at the time of the reports.
