The father of a 15-year-old Ghanaian boy who was fatally shot while walking to school in the Bronx has described his son as his "everything," revealing that the teenager had recently reported being bullied by schoolmates before the deadly ambush.
Thomas Frimpong, 60, spoke to CBS News New York by phone from the hospital where his son, Javits Frimpong, had been pronounced dead. "It's not easy for me. it's not easy for me. He's my everything. I'm here with him alone. I'm here with him alone," he said. "They said my son passes, past. It's not easy ma'am. It's not easy."
Javits was shot once just before 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 29, 2026, near East 171st Street and Crotona Place in the Claremont section of the Bronx. Police are looking for three teenage boys aged 16 to 18, who were last seen wearing all black clothing and blue surgical masks. The gun violence occurred around the corner from the apartment the boy shared with his father.
Mr Frimpong said he learned from the principal of his son's school, Dreamyard Preparatory, that his son had been shot. He noted that the principal had been in contact with him a few days earlier because there had been an incident. "Two boys, um, were fighting with my son and the two boys got suspended," he said.
He said that was when his son finally opened up about his ordeal. "He said, 'Dad, any time I am going to lunch, that guy keep on bullying me.' He said, 'I have been reporting him several times,'" Mr Frimpong said. CBS News New York reached out to the school and the Department of Education to ask about the bullying claims, but neither immediately responded.
Javits had moved to the United States from Ghana exactly one year before his death to join his father, who described the boy as quiet and reserved. "My son is very quiet. My son didn't talk. He don't talk," Mr Frimpong said.
Neighbours expressed their shock and sadness at the senseless violence. "It's devastating. I got a son that's 9. It's sad," Cecile Johnson said. Modesto Arriola said the incident worried him as a parent. "Over here, there's no control over here," he said. A longtime resident named Carla noted that the victim was simply going about his daily routine. "He was just going to school, like doing what he was supposed to do," she said.
In his emotional appeal, Mr Frimpong called on the suspects to surrender to the police. "I don't think they are going to go free for killing an innocent child," he said.
Watch the video below;
The father of a teen killed in a shooting in the Bronx spoke through tears as he remembered his son. Read more: https://t.co/WKeSzS4JVZ https://t.co/Yr5eeU2G5c
— PIX11 News (@PIX11News) October 29, 2026
