Bronx, N.Y. — Teen From Ghana, 15, Fatally Shot Near School

A 15-year-old boy from Ghana was shot once in the stomach near Corona Park in the Bronx at about 9:24 a.m. Thursday and died at a local hospital, according to The Guardian, which cited a New York City police department (NYPD) spokesperson. The victim, identified as Javits Frimpong, had marked one year living in New York after arriving from Ghana, his father, Thomas Frimpong, said.

The figures so far

• Age of the victim: 15
• Time officers found him: 9:24 a.m. Thursday
• Time in the U.S. before the shooting: one year
• Suspects police are searching for: three teenage boys
• Students suspended earlier for alleged harassment of Javits, according to his father: two

What happened Thursday morning in the Bronx?

The NYPD received a report of a shooting near Corona Park on Thursday morning, a police spokesperson told the Guardian on Friday. Responding officers found Javits with a gunshot wound to his stomach. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. No arrests have been made, and police are searching for three teenage boys in connection with the shooting, the NYPD said. Surveillance footage reviewed by the Guardian reportedly showed Javits running while a person dressed in black trailed him; separate footage appeared to show masked individuals in dark clothing fleeing the scene.

Who was Javits Frimpong?

Javits had come to New York from Ghana to reunite with his father, Thomas Frimpong, who described his son as "clever" and "quiet," according to the Guardian. "I lost him," the elder Frimpong told reporters Thursday. "I don't know what to do now."

Was Frimpong bullied before the shooting?

Thomas Frimpong said his son had been bullied at DreamYard preparatory school, where he was a student. He said the school's principal had recently told him two students were suspended for harassing Javits. The Guardian reported it could not reach the principal by phone or email for comment. An NYPD spokesperson declined to say Friday whether the bullying reports were connected to the attack, leaving open whether the shooting and the school harassment are linked.

What have officials in Ghana and New York said?

Ghana's minister of foreign affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, condemned the shooting in a statement Friday. "We will pursue justice and we will make sure that those who did this do not get away with it," Ablakwa said, according to the Guardian. He noted Javits had arrived a year earlier "to reunite with his father and begin a new chapter of his life," describing the family as one of many Ghanaian immigrant households that came to the U.S. in search of opportunity and security.

What happens next in the investigation?

The NYPD has not announced arrests, and the search for the three teenage boys seen in surveillance footage continues, police said. The department has not said whether a motive has been established or whether the bullying allegations at DreamYard factor into the inquiry. The Guardian reported the case has drawn attention from Claremont, the Bronx neighborhood where the shooting occurred, and from New York's West African community, though no additional law-enforcement timeline has been released.