NYPD: NYC Education Department blocked bullying probe into slain Bronx teen Javits Frimpong
The NYPD accused NYC's Department of Education of stonewalling its probe into the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Javits Frimpong. The DOE disputed the claim a day later, saying it had provided all requested materials.
NYPD accuses DOE of stonewalling bullying probe after Bronx student's fatal shooting
The New York Police Department accused city education officials of blocking its investigation into the October 29 fatal shooting of 15-year-old Javits Frimpong, a Bronx schoolboy whose father believes he was being bullied before he was killed — even as Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly touted his efforts to help the teen's family, NY Post Metro reports.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny stated at a briefing with reporters that the Department of Education had refused to hand over information without a subpoena. "We're working with the Department of Education. Unfortunately, they're not willing to give us that information without a subpoena, so we're going through proper channels to get that," Kenny said.
The DOE pushed back the following day, claiming it had cooperated fully and provided all requested materials. However, the NYPD declined to confirm that assertion, and the DOE would not say whether its eventual compliance came as a result of a subpoena.
The dispute surfaced just two days after Mamdani announced that President Trump had agreed to his request to grant Javits' mother a visa to travel from Ghana to attend her son's funeral in New York City. The mayor had positioned himself publicly as an advocate for the Frimpong family.
Brooklyn Democratic state Assemblyman Kalman Yeger criticized the DOE's reported initial refusal to assist investigators without a subpoena. "In Mamdani's New York, the public school system refuses to help catch a child's murderers," Yeger wrote on X.
The DOE's own website notes that student information can be shared with a parent's written consent, or with appropriate officials during a "health or safety emergency" without that permission.
Javits' father, Thomas Frimpong, said the principal at DreamYard Preparatory School contacted him two days before the shooting to report that two students had been fighting with his son. "He said two boys were fighting with my son and the two boys got suspended," Thomas Frimpong said. He has said he believes the bullying was directly connected to his son's death.
On whether bullying played a role, Kenny said it was "one aspect that we're looking at, as well as some others."
Detectives' investigation has so far painted a picture of a student focused on his schoolwork. Kenny noted that Javits sometimes deliberately left his phone at home to avoid distractions. "He would come home, do his homework, and then he would jump on his phone periodically," Kenny said. "But he was very, very into his schoolwork."
Javits was shot in the stomach near East 171st Street and Third Avenue at approximately 9:25 a.m. on October 29 while walking to school, according to police. Video footage captured the teen fleeing from his attacker before the shooting. He was pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital.
Source: NY Post Metro