The mother of a 15-year-old Bronx student who was gunned down on his way to class will be allowed to come to New York from Ghana to say goodbye to him, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Saturday.

Mamdani wrote on X that he had spoken by phone with President Donald Trump. He said the president agreed to approve a visa right away for the mother of Javits Frimpong. "The murder of a child is a pain no parent should have to endure, let alone from thousands of miles away," the mayor wrote. The White House had not publicly commented on the call as of Saturday.

Ghana's foreign minister, Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, identified the boy's mother as Doris Adu Gyamfi. He thanked the mayor and said staff from his ministry would help her through the visa process. He added that the government of President John Mahama would cover the full cost of her trip and was prepared to help pay for the funeral.

Chased down near Crotona Park

Javits was shot once in the abdomen shortly before 9:30 a.m. Thursday near East 171st Street and Crotona Place in the Bronx neighborhood of Claremont, according to New York police. That is just steps from the apartment he shared with his father.

Surveillance footage shows the teenager running as someone dressed in black chases him. He made it about a block before he collapsed. Officers drove him in their patrol car to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he died.

Police are searching for three young males, believed to be 16 to 18 years old, who ran toward the park wearing dark clothes and blue surgical masks. No one had been arrested as of Saturday. Investigators have not said what led to the shooting or whether Javits was the intended target.

A father's questions about bullying

Javits had arrived from Ghana about a year ago to live with his father, Thomas Frimpong, while his mother stayed behind. His father hoped the move would give the boy a better life. He has said his son was a quiet kid who went to school every day, kept mostly to himself and wanted to become a doctor.

The grieving father told local reporters that the principal at DreamYard Preparatory had called him days before the shooting. Two students had been suspended for a week after a fight with his son. According to the father, Javits then told him one of the boys had been picking on him at lunch for some time and that he had reported it again and again.

"The principal told me Javits is innocent," Thomas Frimpong said. He believes the shooting is connected to the bullying. Police have not confirmed any link. The school and the city Education Department did not immediately respond to questions about the bullying claims.

Ghana's ambassador to the United States, Victor Emmanuel Smith, sent the family a letter on behalf of the Ghanaian government. He called for a careful and impartial look at what he described as reported racial bullying. Staff from Ghana's diplomatic mission in New York have also gone to see the family.

A borough in mourning

Large crowds have turned out for vigils across the city. Among those who came to stand with the family was Leandra Feliz. Her son, Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz, was also 15 when he was killed in the Bronx in 2018.

The grief has spread well beyond the neighborhood. Bronx rapper A Boogie Wit da Hoodie stopped his 10th anniversary show Friday night to ask fans for a moment of silence. Ghana-born comedian Michael Blackson recalled being bullied himself as a newly arrived African kid in America.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, who represents the Bronx, said the whole borough was grieving a teenager whose entire future was still in front of him.

Police are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers.