NYPD seeks bullying records in fatal shooting of 15-year-old Javits Frimpong in the Bronx

Investigators are pursuing a subpoena for school records after the teen’s father said two students had been suspended for bullying his son before his death.

The NYPD is preparing to subpoena New York City’s Department of Education for records concerning alleged bullying involving Javits Frimpong, a 15-year-old Ghanaian immigrant who was fatally shot while walking to school in the Bronx.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Tuesday that investigators had been unable to obtain information about students reportedly suspended for bullying Frimpong without a subpoena. Police are now pursuing the records through the appropriate legal process. “We’re working with the Department of Education,” Kenny said, according to the New York Daily News. “Unfortunately, they’re not willing to give us that information without a subpoena.”

Frimpong’s father, Thomas Frimpong, 60, told detectives that two fellow students had recently been suspended for bullying his son. However, police have not established whether the alleged bullying played any role in the killing. “It’s one aspect we’re looking at, as well as others,” Kenny said. Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels said on X that he had spoken with the family and visited Frimpong’s school. He added that the Department of Education was doing everything it could to support the NYPD’s investigation.

Javits Frimpong was walking to DreamYard Preparatory School on the morning of Thursday, Oct. 29, when he was shot in the abdomen near East 171st Street and Crotona Place. He was approximately one block from home. As reported by The Gothamist, three attackers wearing hoodies and surgical masks pursued the teenager. Surveillance footage reportedly shows one of the suspects chasing Frimpong before both disappear from view.

Police said the attackers shot him in the back. Investigators believe the suspects picked up shell casings before fleeing. Frimpong was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital and underwent surgery. Although initially believed to be in stable condition, he died a short time later. Investigators said the suspects had been in Crotona Park before the shooting and fled toward Manhattan, entered the Freeman Street subway station and boarded a No. 5 train.

The shooting happened one day after the family marked the first anniversary of Frimpong’s arrival from Ghana to join his father in the United States. His family shared diary entries with the Daily News that revealed his commitment to education and ambitions of becoming a doctor. “I want to go really far with education because you will earn money,” he wrote. Frimpong’s classmates staged a walkout Monday, remembering him as a cheerful teenager and drawing attention to bullying and gun violence.