Grosse Pointe Woods students attacked with pellet gun because of race

2 men charged with ethnic intimidation, felony firearms

GROSSE POINTE WOODS, Mich. – "We walked past this one house and these men, they like, shot a pellet gun from the top story of the house," said 17-year-old Indya Davis.

Davis was describing what happened on April 29, when she and three friends were walking home on Vernier Road from Grosse Pointe North High School.

She says the men also directed racial slurs toward them and one of the men had a gun.

"A man came outside with a real gun by his side and he told us (expletive) to get off his lawn, but we weren't on his lawn," Davis said.

None of the teens were struck. They called police and filed a report. After weeks of investigating, police arrested brothers Benjamin and Aaron Francis. Both men are in their 30s and both face several charges, including ethnic intimidation and felony firearms.

The news of the arrest is a relief for Davis and her mother Teri Smith, who said her daughter was very shaken up by the whole ordeal.

"I feel like justice has been served," Smith said.


About the Author:

You can watch Kimberly Gill weekdays anchoring Local 4 News at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. and streaming live at 10 p.m. on Local 4+. She's an award-winning journalist who finally called Detroit home in 2014. Kim has won Regional Emmy Awards, and was part of the team that won the National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast in 2022.