NYC mayor says President Trump will issue visa for mother of teen killed in Bronx shooting
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that President Donald Trump has agreed to grant a visa to the mother of 15-year-old Javits Frimpong, who was fatally shot in the Bronx, while officials continue investigating the killing.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Saturday that after a phone call with President Donald Trump, the administration will issue a visa to the mother of Javits Frimpong, a 15-year-old immigrant from Ghana who was shot and killed while walking to school in the Bronx on Thursday. The White House has not yet confirmed the decision.
Police said Frimpong was shot in the abdomen shortly before 9:30 a.m. and was pronounced dead at a hospital later that day. No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
"The murder of a child is a pain no parent should have to endure, let alone from thousands of miles away," Mamdani wrote on X, adding that Frimpong’s mother deserves to say goodbye in person.
"All of New York City is mourning this tragedy," he said.
U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres, who represents the Bronx, noted that Frimpong had arrived in the United States a year earlier to join his father and start a new life. He expressed sorrow for the loss and called for safety for all children in the borough.
"Every child in the Bronx deserves to walk to school without fearing for their life," Torres wrote on X.
Thomas Frimpong, the teen’s father, told reporters that his son had been bullied at school and that school officials had suspended two students involved in the incidents.
Ghana’s foreign minister, Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, said Ghanaian officials in New York are working with local authorities and will cooperate with U.S. officials to pursue justice.
President Trump’s second term has featured tighter immigration policies, including a suspension of visa processing for citizens of 75 countries.