New York, NY (November 10, 2026) – On Wednesday, November 11, 2026, Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN), and Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump will hold a press conference with the family of Javits Frimpong at NAN’s House of Justice in Harlem. Javits was a 15-year-old tenth grader who was shot and killed on the morning of Thursday, October 29, 2026, while walking to school in the Bronx. No arrests have been made. The press conference begins at noon.
Javits Frimpong was a tenth-grade student at The DreamYard Preparatory School in the Bronx. He came to the United States from Ghana and had been in this country about a year. On the morning of Thursday, October 29th, he was walking to school when he was approached near East 171st Street in the Claremont section of the Bronx and shot. He was 15 years old. The family has retained Attorney Ben Crump.
The New York City Police Department is searching for three suspects and has made no arrests. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny has said investigators are weighing robbery as a possible motive and have not ruled out other explanations. The investigation remains open. The National Action Network is not drawing conclusions about a motive ahead of the Department, and is asking anyone with information to contact the NYPD at 1-800-577-TIPS.
The family has asked publicly for whoever is responsible to turn themselves in. Students at The DreamYard Preparatory School walked out of class carrying signs reading “Justice for Javits.” Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has extended condolences to the family and offered consular and legal support, and has called on authorities to investigate thoroughly.
“Javits Frimpong came to this country from Ghana about a year ago with his whole future in front of him, and he never made it to class that day,” said Attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Frimpong family. “His mother, who was still in Ghana, says Javits told her he was being bullied. His family deserves a thorough investigation that finds out who did this and why, and anyone who saw or heard anything that morning should call 1-800-577-TIPS. As we communicate daily with Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Honorable Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, and people all over the global diaspora, we want every immigrant family in this country to know their children deserve the same safety and the same justice as any child in America. We are standing together until the people who killed Javits are held accountable.”
The House of Justice Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Workshop is home to the organization’s weekly Saturday Action Rally, and for more than three decades families who have lost children to violence have come to NAN to be heard.
“Javits Frimpong was fifteen years old and on his way to class on a Thursday morning when he was shot,” said Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President of the National Action Network. “We cannot let this keep plaguing our schoolchildren, sending them out the door to learn and burying them instead. On Wednesday we are calling for expansive gun reform legislation, and I am asking every parent, every teacher, and every neighbor to stand with this family until it is passed. I do not intend to stop until a child in this city can walk to school and come home.”
WHO
The family of Javits Frimpong, Thomas Frimpong, and his mother, Doris Adu Gyamfi
Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder & President, National Action Network
Attorney Ben Crump, Civil Rights Attorney, counsel for the family, delivering the Call to Justice
Minister Samuel Ablakwa, Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs
Dr. Erieka Bennett, Diaspora African Forum
Clergy, community members, students, and members of the community in New York
WHAT
A press conference held by the National Action Network alongside the family of Javits Frimpong and Attorney Ben Crump, nearly two weeks after the 15-year-old was shot and killed while walking to school in the Bronx. Rev. Sharpton will call for expansive gun reform legislation. Followed by a Q&A.
WHEN
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
12:00 PM ET | Press conference begins
WHERE
National Action Network, House of Justice Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Workshop
6 Hancock Place
New York, NY 10027