President Donald Trump has agreed to immediately grant an emergency travel visa to the mother of Javits Frimpong, allowing her to travel from Ghana to New York City to mourn her son in person, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said.
The decision was announced on Saturday, October 31, 2026, by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, reports the New York Times.
Mayor Mamdani stated that he spoke directly with President Trump over the phone to coordinate the expedited visa process following the tragedy, according to the New York Times.
The murder of a child is a pain no parent should have to endure, let alone from thousands of miles away. Javits Frimpong’s mother deserves to say goodbye to her son in person. I just got off the phone with President Trump and he has agreed to grant her visa immediately. All of New York City is mourning this tragedy.
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) October 31, 2026
The 15-year-old Javits Frimpong, a 10th-grade student was fatally shot in the abdomen around 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 29, 2026, near Crotona Park in the Bronx while walking to school. He was pronounced dead later that day at St. Barnabas Hospital.
The New York Police Department is actively searching for three teenage suspects. While a formal motive has not been declared, Javits' father stated that his son was being severely bullied at school and that two students had recently been suspended for targeting him.
“The murder of a child is a pain no parent should have to endure, let alone from thousands of miles away. Javits Frimpong's mother deserves to say goodbye to her son in person. I just got off the phone with President Trump and he has agreed to grant her visa immediately. All of New York City is mourning this tragedy,” Mamdani said in a statement.Frimpong was shot dead on Thursday morning while on his way to school in the Bronx. The 15-year-old was originally from Ghana and had moved to the US about a year ago to live with his father, who had hoped to give him a better life. Frimpong's father said he knew who was responsible for the shooting. He also said his son had been bullied at school and that those involved had recently been suspended.
The suspects, three teenage boys wanted in connection with the shooting, remain at large, police said.The killing has shaken the local community, with religious leaders, family members and residents gathering at the spot where Frimpong collapsed after being shot.
A vigil was held on Friday, with attendees praying for the Bronx and urging young people to stop the violence claiming lives in the neighbourhood.Among those attending was Leandra Feliz, the mother of Junior Guzman, a 15-year-old who was killed in 2018 in a case described as one of mistaken identity.
Fourteen members of the Trinitarios gang slashed Guzman in the neck with machetes. He managed to reach the steps of St. Barnabas Hospital, where he died.
Asked what message she had for Frimpong's family, Feliz 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.”The New York City Department of Education expressed condolences to the family and school community, saying: “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.”The police investigation into the fatal shooting is ongoing, with the three teenage suspects still being sought.
Javits was chased before he was fatally shot
Surveillance footage reportedly captured Javits running, as a person wearing all black trailed behind. Another angle of video footage appeared to show masked individuals in dark clothing fleeing the site of the shooting.Javits marked one year in New York after arriving from Ghana.Ghana’s minister of foreign affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, condemned the attack in a Friday statement. “We will pursue justice and we will make sure that those who did this do not get away with it.”“Just one year ago, Javits arrived in the United States from Ghana to reunite with his father and begin a new chapter of his life. Like so many Ghanaian immigrant families, his family came together in America with hopes of greater opportunity, security, and a promising future,” the Ghana diaspora public affairs collective, a US-based non-profit, also said in a Friday statement.
