15-year-old NYC boy's shooting death remains unsolved; bullying questions linger

Nearly a week after 15-year-old Javits Frimpong was gunned down on his way to school in the Bronx — an alleged bully-driven killing, his father says, caught clearly on video — police are still searching for the shooters.

Javits Frimpong died after being shot in the abdomen last Thursday morning near East 171st Street and Third Avenue, less than a block from Crotona Park.

Jarring surveillance video shows him running for his life, while someone dressed in black chases him. The individual in black stops and turns around. Shortly after, the victim is seen collapsing in the distance.

Frimpong was pronounced dead later that day.

Thomas Frimpong describes his son as a quiet teen who mostly kept to himself and showed up to class every day. He says the school principal was the one who told him about Javits’ death.

The father has said that several days before the shooting, he learned his son was being bullied at school, and that Javits had complained to school officials. Thomas Frimpong believes the shooting is retaliation for that report, which he said resulted in two students being suspended.

The yellow cab driver says he had to tell the boy’s mother in Ghana what had happened to their son. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has condemned the shooting, said he called the president to expedite her visa.

Javits Frimpong moved to New York City from Ghana in 2025 to be with his father and start a life in the U.S.

The Department of Education in a statement on Tuesday offered condolences to the boy’s family and said it would “do everything we can to support the NYPD in their investigation.”

The agency has not directly addressed questions about Javits Frimpong’s alleged bullying complaints.

“No child should ever be unsafe in school or in their community. That will remain a north star as we build a safer city and school system,” the DOE statement said. “We have been providing, and will continue to provide, extensive supports to the school, including counseling and restorative teams. They are available to meet with any student who needs additional support.”

Meanwhile, a grieving father urges his boy’s killers to surrender.

“I don’t think they are going to go free for killing an innocent child,” Thomas Frimpong said at a recent vigil.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.