Bronx Teen Shot and Killed Walking to School; Father Says He Was Bullied

NEW YORK — A 15-year-old boy was shot and killed Thursday morning while walking to school in the Bronx, according to the New York Police Department.

Police said Javits Frimpong was shot once in the abdomen shortly before 9:30 a.m. near East 171st Street and Crotona Place in the Claremont section of the Bronx, around the corner from the apartment he shared with his father. He ran about a block before collapsing. Officers took him to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was first reported in stable condition and later died, police said.

Investigators are searching for three males believed to be between 16 and 18 years old, last seen wearing black clothing and blue surgical masks and fleeing south on Fulton Avenue toward Crotona Park, according to police. Surveillance video captured a person fleeing the area. No arrests had been made as of Friday, and police have not said what led to the shooting or whether Frimpong was targeted.

Frimpong had moved to the United States from Ghana about a year ago to live with his father, Thomas Frimpong, 60, a taxi driver. His mother remains in Ghana. Speaking with CBS News New York by phone from the hospital, Thomas Frimpong said: "He's my everything. I'm here with him alone. They said my son passes. It's not easy."

The father said the principal of his son's school, DreamYard Preparatory, had called him three days before the shooting and told him two students had been bullying Javits and had been suspended for a week. He said his son later told him a student repeatedly bullied him at lunch and that he had reported it several times. "The principal told me Javits is innocent. Javits is innocent. He was defending himself," the father told WABC. He said he believes the bullying may be connected to the killing.

Police have not confirmed any link between the reported bullying and the shooting, and investigators have not announced a motive. CBS News New York reported that it contacted the school and the New York City Department of Education about the bullying claims and that neither immediately responded.

Neighbors in the Claremont neighborhood expressed shock. "He was just going to school, like doing what he was supposed to do," a longtime resident named Carla told CBS News New York.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). All calls are confidential.

— National Correspondent Network