Nearly a week after 15-year-old Javits Frimpong was shot in the abdomen on his way to school in the

Javits Frimpong, 15, Was Gunned Down Walking to School in the Bronx — and Nearly a Week Later, the Shooters Are Still at Large

Nearly a week after 15-year-old Javits Frimpong was shot in the abdomen on his way to school in the Bronx, police are still searching for the people who killed him, NBC New York reported. The shooting happened last Thursday morning near East 171st Street and Third Avenue in the Claremont neighborhood, less than a block from Crotona Park, and surveillance video captured the moments that followed in jarring detail.

The footage shows Frimpong running for his life while someone dressed in black chases him. The pursuer stops and turns around, and shortly after, the teenager is seen collapsing in the distance. Frimpong was pronounced dead later that day. The video, combined with the fact that his father believes the killing was retaliation for a bullying complaint, has turned an already devastating case into one of the most closely watched crimes in the city this month.

CCTV Footage Reveals How 15-Year-Old Javits Frimpong Was Killed in Bronx Shooting

A Quiet Teen Who Showed Up Every Day

Thomas Frimpong describes his son as a quiet teenager who mostly kept to himself and went to class every day. It was the school principal, he said, who told him about Javits’s death. The boy had moved to New York City from Ghana in 2025 to be with his father and start a life in the United States.

Days before the shooting, Thomas Frimpong said he learned his son was being bullied at school and that Javits had complained to school officials. That report, the father said, resulted in two students being suspended. He believes the shooting was retaliation for that complaint — a claim that has become central to how the family and investigators are framing the case, even as police have not confirmed a motive.

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

What the Police Say — and What They Won’t Say Yet

As of this week, the NYPD is looking for three teenagers in connection with the shooting, CBS News reported. According to police, the suspects ran into Crotona Park and were captured on surveillance video jumping a turnstile before taking the 5 train into Manhattan.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CBS News that the Department of Education is not being cooperative, and that investigators are waiting on a subpoena to obtain records tied to the alleged bullying claims. Kenny also cautioned against assuming the bullying angle is the whole story, saying investigators are considering that the shooting may have been a robbery gone bad or a case of mistaken identity. NBC New York reported that it was not immediately clear what led to the deadly shooting, and the Department of Education has not directly addressed questions about Frimpong’s alleged bullying complaints.

Students hold vigil for Javits Frimpong, 15-year-old who was gunned down in the Bronx

The DOE did issue a statement Tuesday offering condolences to the family and saying it would “do everything we can to support the NYPD in their investigation.” The statement added: “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,” and noted that counseling and restorative teams are available at the school.

A Vigil, a Visa, and a Mother Flying in From Ghana

On Monday, students at Dreamyard Prep School held a silent vigil for Frimpong, carrying signs that read “Justice for Javits,” “Forever 15,” and “Protect kids, not guns,” CBS News reported. Students who spoke to reporters described anger and fear — one said, “I want to find the people that did it,” while another said, “As a student, school should be one of the only places that we should feel safe.”

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Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has condemned the shooting, said he called President Trump to expedite a visa for Frimpong’s mother, who lives in Ghana. On Wednesday, Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said she had departed for New York, saying she wants “justice for my son.” CBS News reported that Ghana’s President John Mahama announced his government will cover the mother’s travel costs and assigned a team to assist with the visa process. A yellow cab driver told NBC New York he was the one who had to tell the boy’s mother in Ghana what had happened to her son.

Funeral preparations are underway, and anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

🕯️💔 CANDLELIGHT VIGIL FOR 15-YEAR-OLD JAVITS FRIMPONG — JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED! 🇬🇭🇺🇸

The Open Questions That Matter Now

What is confirmed is stark: a 15-year-old was shot dead on his walk to school, the killing was caught on video, and three teenage suspects fled into the subway system. What remains open is everything that would explain why — whether the bullying complaint and the suspensions that followed set off a retaliation, as his father believes, or whether, as the NYPD’s chief of detectives suggested, this was something else entirely. The subpoena for school records could answer part of that question, but it has not yet been fulfilled.

For the students at Dreamyard Prep, the unanswered questions carry a daily weight. They are going back to a building where, one student said, they now struggle to come to school every day and fear for their lives. The next dated development on record is the funeral, which Frimpong’s mother is now traveling from Ghana to attend.