Bronx cops investigating the shooting death of 15-year-old boy Ghanaian immigrant Javits Frimpong have not been able to get information from the city Department of Education about students suspended for bullying him, NYPD officials said Tuesday
“We’re working with the Department of Education,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Tuesday. “Unfortunately, they’re not willing to give us that information without a subpoena — so we’re going through proper channels to get that information.”
Javits was shot on the way to school last Thursday morning, a day after celebrating the one-year anniversary of starting his new life in the U.S. after immigrating from Ghana to join his father.
Police said the father, Thomas Frimprong, 60, has told NYPD detectives two fellow students had recently been suspended for bullying his son. Javits was so dedicated to his studies he wouldn’t take his cell phone to school, police said.
But Kenny said it is not year clear if bullying played a role in the murder. “It’s one aspect we’re looking at,” Kenny said, “as well as others.”
Schools Chancellor Kamar Samules on X said he spoke with the victim’s family and visited his school and that the Education Department is doing “everything we can” to support the NYPD.
Javits was on his way to DreamYard Preparatory School and was just a block from his home when he was shot in the abdomen on Crotona Place near E. 171st St.
Three attackers wearing hoods and surgical masks chased the victim, with video obtained by the Daily News showing one running after the teen along the sidewalk and then, after he and the victim disappear off screen, fleeing in the other direction.
“All three gave chase,” Kenny said. “And these cowards shot him in the back. If their intention was to rob him, he dropped his backpack.” A passerby stole the backpack, Kenny said, and it has not been recovered.
And then the killers ran back and picked up the shell casings,” Kenny said. “So they knew exactly what they were doing.”
Medics rushed Javits to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he underwent surgery and was initially believed to be in stable condition. But he died a short time later.
“I want to go really far with education because you will earn money,” Javits wrote in his diary, which his family shared with the Daily News.
“I figured out that when you start to win, people start to hate you and they try to bring you down,” he wrote in another entry.
Kenny called Javits the embodiment of the American dream and said there is no indication he had anything valuable in his backpack or was wearing pricey jewelry. Nor is there any evidence he was caught up with the wrong crowd.
“From all indications this was a kid that was doing things right,” Kenny said. “He would voluntarily leave his phone at home because he wanted to concentrate on his school work. He would come home, do his homework and then he would jump on his phone periodically. But he was very, very into his schoolwork.”
Javits, who dreamed of becoming a doctor, was remembered fondly Monday when his fellow students staged a walkout and spoke out about bullying and gun violence.
They chanted his name, describing him as a happy teen whose demeanor made everyone around him smile.
The killers, Kenny said, were hanging out in Crotona Park well before the shooting and then fled to Manhattan after the murder.
They jumped the turnstile at Freeman St. station before taking the No. 5 train.
Mayor Mamdani says he called President Trump and got him to grant Javits’ mother in Ghana an immediate visa to come to New York.
“Javits Frimpong’s mother deserves to say goodbye to her son in person,” Mamdani said on social media. “All of New York City is mourning this tragedy.”
With Cayla Bamberger