Father of slain St. Joe's Prep student charged with threatening friend of son's accused killer

The father of a St. Joseph's Preparatory School student who was fatally shot in South Philadelphia last fall was arrested Monday night and charged with threatening a friend of his son's accused killer, the latest in a series of contentious incidents resulting from that crime.

Police did not identify the person whom Salvatore DiNubile is accused of confronting, but Frank Keel, a DiNubile family friend and spokesman, said the 44-year-old recognized him as a friend of Brandon Olivieri's. Olivieri, 16, is accused of fatally shooting DiNubile's son, a 16-year-old also named Salvatore, and 16-year-old Caleer Miller in October.

A police summary of the incident involving the elder DiNubile said he screamed, "I'm going to kill you!" at the person before shoving him into a parked car on the 2500 block of Warnock Street on Feb. 20. It also said DiNubile grabbed the person's mailbox and smashed it into the front door of his family's home, according to police. No one was injured.

Keel said DiNubile confronted the male only after he told DiNubile, "Get over it, everybody dies," then spit in his direction, which DiNubile took as a reference to his deceased son. Keel said he did not know the name of the person whom DiNubile is accused of threatening.

Keel also declined to offer specifics on what happened during the confrontation, but said: "What father in his right mind … wouldn't react in such a way when a punk like this makes that kind of disgraceful remark?" He said friends of Olivieri's had previously posted photos and videos on social media "almost gloating" over DiNubile's death.

A series of combative confrontations have resulted from the killing of the younger DiNubile and Miller, a crime that received widespread attention and inspired hundreds of people to mourn their deaths. In the days after the homicide, Olivieri's family home was sprayed with bullets, and in December a key witness at his preliminary hearing turned hostile toward prosecutors and refused to answer their questions.

Authorities have described the shooting as a social-media beef among feuding teens that turned deadly when Olivieri pulled out a gun at 12th and Ritner Streets on Oct. 24, 2017.

DiNubile was on one side of the dispute, authorities have said, while Miller, Olivieri, and at least one other teen were on the other. At Olivieri's preliminary hearing, prosecutors said that Olivieri had pulled a gun to shoot DiNubile, and that Miller was accidentally shot during a scuffle.

Olivieri's attorney has said his client denies the accusations.

Keel said the most recent incident involving the elder DiNubile was sparked when he was overseeing contracting work at his South Philadelphia home, which he is trying to sell to move away from the crime scene.

It was not immediately clear why DiNubile was not arrested until Monday. Court records show he was charged with terroristic threats, simple assault, and reckless endangerment. He was released on bail after being arraigned, the records said.

Staff writer Jason Nark contributed to this article.