A 17-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of 15-year-old Ghanaian student Javits Badu Nkansah Frimpong, who was killed while making his way to school in the Bronx, New York.
According to a report by the New York Daily News on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, the teenage suspect was being held at an NYPD station in the 42nd Precinct as authorities prepared possible charges.
However, investigators have yet to establish whether the arrested teenager was the person who fired the fatal shots or was involved in the attack as an accomplice.
Frimpong was attacked on the morning of October 29 while walking to DreamYard Preparatory School. He was shot in the abdomen at approximately 9:24 a.m. on Crotona Place, close to East 171st Street and just a block from his home in the Mott Haven neighbourhood.
Surveillance footage reportedly captured three masked individuals wearing hooded clothing and surgical masks pursuing the teenager along the street before one of them opened fire.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny previously disclosed that the attackers shot Frimpong in the back before collecting the spent bullet casings, an action investigators believe was intended to destroy potential evidence.
Kenny suggested that the suspects’ actions indicated the attack may have been premeditated, questioning their motive for shooting the teenager even after he had dropped his backpack.
Police investigations have also established that the suspects were allegedly in Crotona Park before the shooting and subsequently escaped towards Manhattan.
Footage reportedly showed the three individuals jumping over a turnstile at Freeman Street subway station before boarding a No. 5 train as they attempted to leave the area.
Following the shooting, Frimpong was transported to St. Barnabas Hospital, where medical personnel performed surgery. However, he succumbed to his injuries shortly afterwards.
The teenager’s death has sparked widespread grief within the Ghanaian immigrant community in New York and renewed discussions about bullying and student safety in the city’s schools.
His father, identified in the report as Thomas Frimpong, reportedly told detectives that two students at his son’s school had recently been suspended over allegations of bullying him.
However, Chief Kenny said investigators had not yet determined whether the reported bullying incidents were connected to the teenager’s killing.
He explained that the alleged bullying remained one of several possible angles being examined as detectives worked to establish the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Police are also investigating whether Frimpong was acquainted with his attackers or had any previous disagreements or connections with them.
The arrest marks a development in the investigation as authorities continue efforts to identify everyone involved in the teenager’s death and establish the motive behind the fatal attack.