New details continue to emerge hours after a man suspected of killing Chicago police officer Luis Huesca was captured and arrested by police.
Xavier Tate Jr. was arrested Wednesday evening at a suburban Chicago apartment complex, but much is still emerging about what exactly happened.
Here’s what we know so far:
When and how was Xavier Tate Jr. arrested?
Police say Xavier Tate Jr. was taken into custody without incident Wednesday evening at the Ellyn Crossing Apartments in suburban Glendale Heights. Authorities say the U.S. Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force helped capture Tate, who was considered armed and dangerous.
“Xavier L. Tate Jr. was arrested this evening by members of the Chicago Police Department and the US Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force in Glendale Heights for the murder of CPD Officer Luis Huesca” , indicates the press release. “We thank all of our law enforcement partners who helped apprehend this suspect as we work to bring justice to Officer Huesca and his family.”
Two law enforcement sources told NBC Chicago that Tate Jr. was hiding in an apartment in the complex, under the kitchen sink.
According to sources, Tate Jr. said “please don’t hurt me,” when officers found him.
Law enforcement sources also told NBC Chicago that Tate Jr., 22, was arrested using the fallen officer’s handcuffs.
What else do we know about Xavier Tate?
Police had named Tate Jr. as a person of interest in the case.
Court records show Tate Jr. 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 Tate, identifying him as a person of interest.
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.
Has there been another arrest in this case?
Previously, Caschous Tate, an alleged associate of Xavier Tate, was taken into custody in connection with this case. According to prosecutors, members of the Great Lakes Regional Task Force and the Chicago Police Department’s investigation team went to a home near 108th Street and South Hale in the Morgan Park neighborhood in Chicago, to talk to a woman about the murder.
Caschous, they said, opened the door and told officers to wait because his girlfriend was naked in a back room.
Another officer then saw him 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.
What happened to Officer Huesca?
According to court records, Tate Jr., 22, is accused of using a .40-caliber handgun to fatally shoot Huesca, who was found with multiple gunshot wounds April 21 near his Gage home Park. 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.
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.
“The officer was wearing his uniform, (but) he had something covering him,” Supt. » Larry Snelling said. “We’re still in the preliminary stages at the moment.”
Police are investigating the circumstances of the shooting, including whether the incident began with a carjacking, authorities said.
“What we do know is that the officer’s vehicle was taken, but to know the full motive of what happened, we need more information and the detective division is working on it,” he said. Snelling said.
Officials say the ATF and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office are assisting in the investigation.
who was found with a gunshot wound to the face on April 21 near his Gage Park home.
His Toyota SUV was reported stolen but was later found, according to a police report. The report said officers were investigating the incident as a possible carjacking.
Following the arrest of murder suspect Xavier Tate, NBC Chicago’s Alex Maragos looks at the timeline between the killing of Officer Luis Huesca and Tate’s capture.
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.
Who was Officer Luis Huesca?
The arrest comes two days after law enforcement filled the seats at the chapel of the Saint Rita Cascia Shrine in the Beverly View neighborhood in Huesca’s honor.
One by one, family, friends and colleagues shared moving stories at the slain officer’s funeral, each revealing a beautiful tribute to the man they knew – the man he was both with and without his badge.
“When I first heard the tragic news, I really struggled to find the words to describe (Luis) to those who hadn’t had the privilege of meeting him. But I kept coming back to the expression ‘take off his shirt’.’ Because that’s exactly what Luis was. He was the kind of man who did everything possible to help others no matter what,” said his friend Karim Ismat.
Amid the long list of speakers who paid tribute was officer Lucia Chávez, who was a close friend and classmate of Huesca and another fallen officer, Andrés Vásquez-Lasso, who was barely killed 13 months earlier while responding to a domestic attack. disturbance call.
“I lost Andrés and now Luis,” Chávez said. “I lost my two classmates, my best friends, my brothers. The violence in this city took them from me, from us.”
Officer Luis Huesca, a six-year veteran of the force, was fatally shot April 21 in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood as he walked home from work. At his funeral, touching tributes from family, friends and colleagues painted a poignant portrait of the man he was, with and without his badge.
Notably absent from the crowd were Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.
Johnson issued a statement Monday morning as he updated his public schedule to remove the funeral from his itinerary.
“We continue to extend our deepest condolences to the family and colleagues of Officer Luis Huesca as they recover from the loss of their beloved son, nephew, brother and friend,” Johnson said in a statement. communicated. “As Mayor, I am committed to continuing to support our police and first responders, uniting our city and remaining committed to working with everyone to build a better, stronger and safer Chicago. My heart is with the Huesca family today. God bless them and God bless you.
The last-minute change came after multiple sources told NBC Chicago that Huesca’s family had asked Johnson not to come.
Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza said Huesca’s “distressed mother” asked her and another state official to tell Johnson “that he doesn’t was not welcome at his son’s funeral.
In the end, it was Huesca’s character who took center stage.
“Luis, your nickname should be Lionheart. You are an exceptional person with courage, bravery, community, humility and pride in your work,” Huesca Jr. said, reciting a letter which he wrote to his late brother. “And you have devotion to those you touch, rest in peace, my brother, and I love you.”
NBC Chicago
