A 15-year-old Ghanaian boy has been shot dead in the Bronx, New York, in a killing that has left his family devastated, with his father alleging that the teenager had previously complained of being bullied by fellow students at school.

The victim, identified as Javits Frimpong, was shot once in the abdomen shortly before 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 29, 2026, near East 171st Street and Crotona Place in the Claremont neighbourhood of the Bronx.

According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), officers rushed the teenager to hospital after the shooting, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police are currently searching for three teenage boys, believed to be between 16 and 18 years old, in connection with the fatal shooting. The suspects were last seen wearing black clothing and blue surgical masks.

Javits’ father, 60-year-old Thomas Frimpong, has been left heartbroken by the killing, insisting that his son was an innocent boy who had not been involved in any wrongdoing.

Speaking about the circumstances surrounding his son’s death, Mr Frimpong said he first received a telephone call from the school informing him that Javits had not reported for classes, before receiving a second call that his son had been shot.

“I got a call that my son is not at school, and I said, ‘What? He is always at school.’ Then I had another one that my son had been shot,” he recounted.

He said the school principal subsequently provided him with the location of the incident, prompting him to rush to the hospital, where he received the devastating news.

“The principal gave me the address, and I rushed to the hospital, and they said my son had passed away. It’s not easy,” he said.

Mr Frimpong disclosed that his son had been living with him in the United States for exactly one year, having arrived from Ghana on October 28, 2025.

He described Javits as a quiet and reserved boy who rarely got into trouble.

“I have been here with him. Yesterday [Wednesday] was exactly a year since he came from Africa. He is a quiet boy; he doesn’t talk. He is always on his phone,” he said.

The grieving father also disclosed that his wife, who is in Ghana, was struggling to come to terms with the news and had insisted that she would only believe their son was dead after seeing his body.

Mr Frimpong further revealed that Javits had previously complained about being bullied by some students at school, raising concerns about whether the incidents could be connected to the circumstances surrounding his death.

According to him, the school principal had earlier informed him that two students who had been disturbing his son had been suspended following an altercation involving the teenagers.

“The principal said two guys were disturbing my son, so he had suspended the two guys. My son was at school, and he was innocent,” he stated.

He said he had subsequently spoken with Javits to establish whether he was safe and even offered to pick him up from school, but the teenager assured him that everything was fine.

“I spoke with my son, and he said he was okay. I asked whether I should come and pick him up, and he said he was okay,” he recalled.

The father said his son had also complained that one of the students repeatedly bullied him whenever he went to have lunch, adding that Javits had regularly reported the incidents to school authorities.

“My son once told me anytime he was going for lunch, one of the guys bullied him. He said he always reported them,” he explained.

He further recounted the principal’s account of the altercation that led to the suspension of the two students.

“The Principal told me Javits was innocent. He was defending himself, and the other guy came and joined the other, and the two of them got suspended,” he added.

The NYPD has yet to establish the circumstances that led to Thursday morning’s shooting, which occurred near the apartment Javits shared with his father.

Mr Frimpong, who says he has lived in the United States for the past 26 years, has appealed to those responsible for his son’s death to surrender to the police and face justice.

“I expect them to give themselves to the police. I don’t think they will go free for killing an innocent child,” he said.

Police investigations into the fatal shooting are ongoing.