Police official's son to be laid to rest, suspect charged with murder

PHILADELPHIA (FOX 29) - The son of a Philadelphia police inspector was laid to rest Thursday morning, just hours after the man accused of gunning him down was arraigned on multiple charges.

A funeral for Nicholas Flacco, 20, was held at Saint Albert The Great Church in Huntingdon Valley. Services will begin at 9 a.m. and followed by a funeral mass at noon.

Early Thursday morning, Tyquan Atkinson, 19, was arraigned on six charges in Flacco's death, including murder, criminal conspiracy, and multiple weapons offenses.

Atkinson was identified by police as a suspect early Wednesday afternoon, and was captured in Delaware County after a chase along the roof of a shopping center in Upland Borough, according to sources.

Atkinson allegedly came to a South Philadelphia park in response to a fight between women when he opened fire on a large group, killing 20-year-old Nicholas Flacco, on Saturday.

Captain Jason Smith says Flacco was with a group gathered in FDR Park after tailgating at a Phillies game. Several fights between females broke out, and an unidentified woman was heard threatening to "call her man and that they should be afraid."

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Police say Atkinson fired a revolver into the air and to the side. He left but allegedly returned 10 or 15 minutes later and shot Flacco.

"They dared him to shoot them," said Smith. "They told us that they didn't believe the gun was real at that time."

Flacco was hit in the chest and was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, but died there a short time later.

Flacco is the son of Chris Flacco, the chief inspector of internal affairs at the Philadelphia Police Department. Authorities say he was a college student at Penn State University who had returned home for the weekend to celebrate his birthday.