Mayor says President Trump will grant visa to mother of slain Bronx teen
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that President Donald Trump has agreed to issue an immediate travel visa to the mother of Javish Frimpong, a 15-year-old from Ghana who was killed in a Bronx shooting.
President Donald Trump has agreed to issue an immediate travel visa to the mother of Javish Frimpong, a 15-year-old who was shot and killed while walking to school in the Bronx on Thursday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Saturday.
"The murder of a child is a pain no parent should have to endure, let alone from thousands of miles away," Mamdani posted on X, adding that he had just spoken with the president and received confirmation of the visa.
Police reported that Frimpong was shot around 9:30 a.m. near Crotona Park and was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. No suspects have been identified and the motive for the shooting remains unknown.
Frimpong's father, Thomas Frimpong, said his son had arrived from Ghana the previous year to live with him. Ghanaian community groups have called for answers and greater city engagement, noting a series of recent violent incidents involving members of the Ghanaian diaspora in the Bronx. The Ghana Diaspora Public Affairs Collective said the incidents are not known to be linked but have heightened safety concerns among local Ghanaian families.
Sam Raskin, a spokesperson for Mayor Mamdani, said the mayor contacted the Frimpong family on Friday and that the Office of Community Safety has deployed grief counselors and outreach specialists to the area.
"This is a devastation that doesn't just affect this family; it devastates a community," Mamdani said in a social-media interview, emphasizing the broader impact on the neighborhood and the diaspora.