17-year-old arrested over fatal shooting of Ghanaian teenager Javits Frimpong in New York

A 17-year-old boy has been taken into custody in connection with the killing of 15-year-old Ghanaian teenager Javits Frimpong, who was fatally shot while walking to school in the Bronx, New York.

According to the New York Daily News, the suspect was being held at an NYPD station in the 42nd Precinct on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, as authorities prepared charges.

Investigators have yet to establish whether the teenager was directly involved in the shooting or played an assisting role in the October 29 attack.

Frimpong was shot in the abdomen at about 9:24 a.m. on Crotona Place, close to East 171st Street and a short distance from his home in the Mott Haven neighbourhood. He was heading to DreamYard Preparatory School when the incident occurred.

Surveillance footage reportedly captured 3 masked attackers in hooded clothing pursuing the teenager along the street before one of them fired at him.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said the assailants shot Frimpong in the back and subsequently retrieved the spent shell casings, apparently in an effort to remove evidence from the scene.

“All three gave chase,” Kenny said last week. “And these cowards shot him in the back. If their intention was to rob him, he dropped his backpack.”

He said the suspects' decision to collect the shell casings had raised suspicions that the attack was premeditated.

Police believe the attackers had been at Crotona Park before the shooting and escaped towards Manhattan. Investigators reportedly obtained surveillance footage showing them jumping a turnstile at Freeman Street station before boarding a No. 5 train.

Frimpong was transported to St. Barnabas Hospital, where doctors performed surgery, but he later died from his injuries.

His death has deeply affected members of the Ghanaian community in New York and brought renewed attention to concerns about bullying in schools across the city.

His father, identified in the report as Thomas Frimprong, reportedly told detectives that 2 students at his son's school had recently been suspended over allegations of bullying him.

However, Kenny said investigators had not yet determined whether the alleged bullying had any connection to the teenager's killing.

“It’s one aspect we’re looking at, as well as others,” he said.

Police are also working to establish whether Frimpong was acquainted with his attackers or had any previous dealings with them.