Police officers who took into custody the man accused of shooting and killing Chicago police officer Luis Huesca used the fallen officer’s handcuffs during the arrest, according to police sources.
Xavier Tate, accused of Huesca’s murder, was arrested Wednesday evening in suburban Glendale Heights, according to a Chicago alderman and sources familiar with the matter.
According to the source, it is tradition in law enforcement to use the handcuffs of a fallen police officer to arrest the person accused of killing him.
Chicago police confirmed Tate was arrested Wednesday.
Sources confirmed the arrest to NBC Chicago and Huesca’s family confirmed they were informed of the arrest by Chicago police.
According to court records, the 22-year-old is accused of using a .40-caliber handgun to fatally shoot Huesca, who was found with multiple gunshot wounds April 21 near his Gage Park home . Police discovered the co-worker, who had been shot in the face, after responding to a ShotSpotter alert at 2:53 a.m. near West 56th Street and South Kedzie Avenue, according to a police report.
Chicago police continued to search Saturday for the man responsible for the shooting death of Officer Luis Huesca, nearly a week after the officer was fatally shot. NBC Chicago’s Courtney Sisk reports.
Huesca was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center and was later pronounced dead from his injuries. A six-year veteran of the force, Huesca had just finished his tour of duty and was returning home in uniform when the shooting occurred. His Toyota SUV was stolen after the shooting, but was later recovered.
Court records show Tate, the suspect, was scheduled to appear in court earlier last week for an unrelated matter, but failed to appear. On April 22, a day after the deadly shooting, authorities released still images and video of a person of interest.
In an update Friday evening, Chicago police identified Tate as the individual in the previously released footage.
Previously, Caschous Tate, an alleged associate of Xavier Tate, was taken into custody in connection with this case. Prosecutors say members of the Great Lakes Regional Task Force and the Chicago Police Department’s investigative team went to a home near 108th Street and South Hale to talk to a woman about the murder .
Tate, they said, opened the door and told officers to wait because his girlfriend was naked in a back room.
Another officer then saw Caschous Tate go out the back window and use a lawn chair to throw an object over the fence. The object was Huesca’s gun, which prosecutors said had all but two digits on its serial number scratched off.
Near the lawn chair, prosecutors said, they found the magazine.
Tate is described as an associate of Tate, Jr., the man accused of Huesca’s murder.
Police said he could be seen on numerous surveillance videos from stores near the home in Gage Park, Huesca.
Chicago police have released a new video in an effort to identify the person responsible for the shooting death of CPD Officer Luis Huesca. (Credit: Chicago Police)
The FBI had put Tate Jr. on its most wanted list and released a poster describing him and noting a tattoo on the right side of his neck of the word “majesty” under a crown and additional tattoos on his chest and his body.
The Fraternal Order of Police and a number of other organizations have offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
NBC Chicago
