Did an insult about a slain South Philly teen play a role in the killing of a police commander’s son?
Before he was shot dead in FDR Park in March, Nicholas Flacco was involved in a fight and allegedly made a derogatory comment about Salvatore DiNubile, a teen killed in South Philly in 2017. A few hours later, witnesses testified, a gunman returned and shot Flacco during another melee.
As the fight between groups of teens and young adults broke up at a Phillies tailgate in FDR Park, members of one group screamed a heated question at their opponents: “What did you say about Sal?”
Bryce Nast, a 16-year-old who said he was among those seeking to cool tensions, testified Wednesday that one of his friends at that March 30 brawl, Nicholas Flacco — the son of a police commander — yelled back a response.
“‘F— Sal,’” he said, according to Nast.
Just hours after that remark, which Nast said was a reference to slain South Philadelphia teen Salvatore DiNubile, a gunman twice returned to the parking lot where Flacco and his friends were partying. And the second time, Nast said, the gunman — whom he identified as Tyquan Atkinson, now 20 — pulled out a gun and pointed it at Flacco’s chest.
“Flacco took a step to him,” Nast said, “and he fired it.”
The testimony during Atkinson’s preliminary hearing on murder charges offered a possible new clue in the fatal shooting of Flacco, the son of Chief Inspector Christopher Flacco and a Pennsylvania State University student who was back in the city to celebrate his 20th birthday.
It also added a surprise postscript to the slaying of DiNubile, a case that shocked South Philadelphia in October 2017 and appeared to have reached a conclusion on Monday when Brandon Olivieri, the convicted killer of DiNubile and Caleer Miller, both 16, was sentenced to 37 years to life in prison.
It was not clear Wednesday how significant a factor the barb about DiNubile may have been in Flacco’s killing. Nast testified that several brawls preceded the moment when Atkinson allegedly shot Flacco in the chest. And during one of the encounters, Nast said, Flacco saw Atkinson’s weapon, thought it was a cap gun, and dared him to fire it — which he did, Nast said, unloading two shots that did not hit anyone.
Nast also said that although he knew about DiNubile’s death, he did not know DiNubile and did not know Atkinson before seeing him at the park.
One of Atkinson’s defense attorneys, Evan T.L. Hughes — who said his client will fight the case — said he believed the shooting was likely the result of adrenaline, alcohol, and a series of melees. In one of the fights, Nast testified, someone on his side pulled a tire iron from a car to wield as a weapon.
“This was not some motivated act,” Hughes said. “This was just an escalation of the violence that was happening there.”
Assistant District Attorneys Shuaiyb Newtown and Ashley Martin declined to comment after the hearing.
Nast was one of two witnesses to testify, after which Atkinson was held for trial by Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson on all counts, including first-degree murder.
Nast said that he had attended an afternoon Phillies tailgate at which he and others had drunk alcohol, including the high-alcohol malt beverage Four Loko, and that the party lasted for several hours at locations near Citizens Bank Park, beginning at the Jetro parking lot and migrating to places inside Franklin D. Roosevelt Park.
While in the park, Nast said, his group of friends got into at least three brawls with different groups. Flacco lobbed the comment about DiNubile after the first fight, he said. At the second, Nast said, he watched Atkinson fire shots into the ground.
The third melee is when Nast said he saw Atkinson fire the fatal shot at Flacco.
Hughes sought to challenge Nast’s credibility throughout the hearing, later describing him as “extremely inconsistent and evasive.” At one point during questioning, Hughes accused Nast of fabricating the story and basing it on accounts by friends who were there.
He also grabbed hold of the fact that the other witness to testify — Atkinson’s former girlfriend, who claimed Atkinson had confessed the crime to her — only cooperated with police after they had threatened to arrest her, she testified Wednesday.
Atkinson displayed little emotion during the hearing. Because he is charged with first-degree murder, he was held afterward without bail.
He is due back in court for a formal arraignment Aug. 14.