A 15-year-old boy was fatally shot while walking to school in the Bronx, days after his father says school officials informed him that two students had been suspended for bullying his son.
Javits Frimpong was shot in the stomach shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday (October 29) near East 171st Street and Third Avenue in the Claremont section of the Bronx, NBC New York reported. Police found him conscious and rushed him to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he later died.
Neighborhood surveillance footage appears to show a teenager running as another person dressed in black chased him. The person then turns around as the teen collapses in the distance.
Frimpong's father, Thomas Frimpong, told NBC New York that his son had complained to school officials about a classmate who was bullying him.
"He has been telling the principal, he's been telling the boy is disturbing him," Thomas said.
Thomas also defended his son's character, saying the school could speak to how he behaved.
"The school can testify my son is always quiet. Always," he said, adding that his son went to school every day.
He also told ABC7 New York that the principal informed him three days before the shooting that two students had been suspended for bullying his son.
"The principal told me Javits is innocent. Javits is innocent. He was defending himself," Thomas said.
Thomas said his son moved from Ghana to the United States in 2025 and described him as someone who largely kept to himself.
Police are searching for up to three suspects in connection with the shooting. No arrests have been made, and investigators have not determined whether Frimpong was the intended target or if the shooting was connected to the alleged bullying.
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