Mamdani says Trump will grant a visa to the mother of the teen killed near Crotona Park. The Council's gun violence bills are still in committee

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Saturday that President Donald Trump agreed to "immediately" grant a visa to the mother of the 15-year-old shot and killed Thursday near Crotona Park, so she can travel from Ghana to say goodbye to her son, Gothamist reported. Mamdani announced it on X after a phone call with the president. The White House did not immediately respond to Gothamist's request for comment.

The boy had come to the United States from Ghana about a year ago and lived with his father in the Bronx, Gothamist reported. He was shot around 9:30 a.m. Thursday and died at St. Barnabas Hospital. Police had not named suspects or announced arrests as of Gothamist's Saturday report.

Why it matters to residents: the killing happened on a weekday morning near a park, and it came a day before the Council's first hearing on two bills about how the city prevents violence.

What officials have said

• The mayor. On Friday, Mamdani said the killing "devastates a community," Gothamist reported. A mayoral spokesperson said he called the family, and that the city's Office of Community Safety funded and coordinated grief counselors and outreach workers for the neighborhood.
• Ghana's government. Foreign Minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa thanked Mamdani on Saturday and said his ministry would help the mother apply for the visa and that Ghana would pay her travel costs, according to Gothamist.
• Community groups. The Ghana Diaspora Public Affairs Collective pointed to other recent attacks on Ghanaians in the Bronx, while saying there is no established evidence linking them, Gothamist reported.

What our records add

We reported Friday that the shooting happened in District 15, represented by Public Safety Chair Oswald J. Feliz. Here is where things stand after Friday's hearing.

The hotline bill was laid over. Int. 414, from Kevin C. Riley, would create a three-digit gun violence intervention hotline. It now has 21 sponsors. At the Oct. 30 joint hearing of the Public Safety and Governmental Operations committees, it got its first hearing, 274 days after it was introduced, and was laid over, our records show. That means no vote yet.

So was the Department of Community Safety bill. Int. 403, which would turn the Office of Community Safety into a permanent department, was also heard and laid over. It now lists 36 sponsors. The office that sent grief counselors to the neighborhood this week has a $271 million budget, and its commissioner defended its work at that hearing, as we reported Saturday.

A shots-fired law is already on the books. Int. 935, from Feliz, requires the NYPD to report every quarter on confirmed shots-fired incidents by precinct, including those where no one is hit. It became law Sept. 14 without the mayor's signature.

Visas are a federal matter. The Council has no role in the visa decision. Its Committee on Immigration has an oversight hearing on immigration enforcement in the city scheduled for Nov. 20.

Video and a searchable transcript of Friday's hearing have not yet been posted to our meeting page. We will add timestamped links when they are.

What's next

The NYPD investigation continues. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS. Int. 414 and Int. 403 each need a committee vote before going to the full Council, which next meets Nov. 12.