High-Ranking Police Official's Son Among 80 People Murdered In Philadelphia This Year
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Five people were gunned down in Philadelphia over the weekend, including the son of a high-ranking police official. Investigators believe before Nick Flacco was killed, his friends dared a gunman to shoot at them.
Flacco is among 80 people who were murdered in Philadelphia so far this year. The same time last year, 72 people were gunned down. On Monday morning, Philadelphia's top cop came out to address the spike in murders.
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"All these murders are ridiculous and senseless," said Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross.
Ross again called on people to put their guns down. It comes after the 20-year-old Flacco was shot and killed. He's the son of Chris Flacco, the chief inspector of internal affairs.
"Whether we know the individuals or not, we see pain in the faces of these families each and every day," said Ross.
Investigators say Flacco was celebrating the Phillies' big win with friends in FDR Park around 10 p.m. on Saturday. That's when a fight broke out between two groups of people.
An unknown woman then threatened to "call her man." The man came by, pulled out a gun and fired a single shot into the air.
Police say Flacco's friends, who were possibly intoxicated, then dared the man to fire his gun at them.
"They encouraged the male to shoot them because they didn't believe that the gun was real at the time. The male fired a second shot to the side of the individuals and fled the area," said Philadelphia Police Capt. Jason Smith.
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After the gunman fled, he came back and fired a shot into Nick Flacco's chest, killing the Penn State student. He was home over the weekend, celebrating his birthday Friday, the day before he died.
A $35,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest. Police also want the woman who allegedly called the shooter to FDR Park to turn herself in.
