Black teens fundraising for high school football team held at gunpoint by white woman

Four black teens in Arkansas were held at gunpoint and forced to the ground by a white woman while they were fundraising for their football team, ABC News reported.

A warrant for Jerri Kelly, 46, was issued on Monday and she was arrested later that day. Kelly was charged with four counts of aggravated assault, four counts of false imprisonment, and four counts of endangering the welfare of a minor.

Four high school sophomores, ages 15 and 16, were going door-to-door the morning of August 7 selling discount cards to raise money for their team’s meal fund. The meal fund pays for the team’s food before and after games, Carl Easley, Superintendent of the Wynn School District, told ABC News Friday.

According to Wynne police, the boys approached the house of Jerri Kelly, a white woman.

Officers received a call about “suspicious persons” and upon arriving at the scene, they found the boys on the ground with a woman standing over them with a gun, according to Wynn Police Chief Jackie Clark.

The officers let the boys stand up, and they explained to police that they had been fundraising for their football team. Two of the boys were wearing their team’s jersey. Clark said he heard that the boys had not yet made it to Kelly’s door, but were still on the sidewalk when she allegedly approached them.

The boys met with the school’s principal about an hour after the incident occurred, according to ABC. The school board is expected to have a meeting to discuss the district’s fundraising practices Monday. The district says that door-to-door sales are discouraged, although it is not prohibited and remains a common practice at the school.