Police are searching for Javits Frimpong suspects after the 15-year-old Bronx student was fatally shot on his way to school Thursday morning. The shooting drew a Friday vigil in the Bronx, where family members, religious leaders and community members gathered at the spot where he collapsed.
Frimpong's father said he knows who was responsible for the shooting and said his son had been bullied at school. He also said the people involved had recently been suspended. Police have made no arrests and are searching for three teenage boys.
Bronx vigil for Javits Frimpong
The vigil brought together people who came to support the family after the death of a boy who had been brought from Ghana to live with his father about a year ago. Leandra Feliz, the mother of Junior Guzman, attended to stand with the family after losing her own 15-year-old son in 2018. She said, "I'm only here to show support to the family because here we are again, another child of 15-years-old lost and I just want to be here to let the family know I'm here."
Feliz added, "Only god can give you strength to live one day at a time and learn to live with the pain through the loss of family." Another speaker told the crowd, "Our government and our government agencies are telling us, well, crime is going down. Crime is going down. But it's not what we're seeing. Younger and younger, our kids are dying".
School response from New York City Department of Education
The New York City Department of Education said, "Our hearts are with this young person's family and school community during this unimaginably difficult time. We are making counseling and other supports are available to students, families, and staff who need them, and supporting NYPD as they investigate." That response puts the school system into the next phase of the case: helping students and staff while police continue looking for the three teenage boys named in the search.
A church leader at the vigil said, "I don't want to be here doing this. I want to be invited to a birthday party. I want to be invited to a sweet 16 to pray. I want to be invited to open my church to a celebration, to a graduation, not to a funeral". The family's account of bullying, the father's claim about who was responsible, and the lack of arrests leave the focus on the same question the search is trying to answer.
NYPD search after Thursday
The case now rests on police identifying the three teenage boys and matching that search to the events that led to the shooting on Thursday morning. For the family and the Bronx community, the urgent fact is that a 15-year-old student is dead, and the people tied to the shooting have not been taken into custody.
