What we know about the suspect in the killing of a Chicago officer – NBC Chicago

What else do we know about Xavier Tate?

The police had Tate Jr. named as a person of interest in the case.

Court records show that Tate Jr. was previously scheduled to appear in court last week on an unrelated matter but failed to appear. On April 22, a day after the fatal shooting, authorities released still images and videos of Tate, identifying him as a person of interest.

The FBI had Tate Jr. put on its most wanted list and released a poster describing him and a tattoo on the right side of his neck with the word “Majesty” under a crown and additional tattoos on his chest and body.

The Fraternal Order of Police and several other organizations were offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

Has there been another arrest in this case?

Previously, Caschous Tate, a reported associate of Xavier Tate, was taken into custody in connection with the case. According to prosecutors, members of the Great Lakes Regional Task Force and the Chicago Police Department’s Investigative Response Team went to a home near 108th and South Hale in Chicago’s Morgan Park neighborhood 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 exit a back window and use a lawn chair to throw an object over the fence. The item was Huesca’s gun, which prosecutors said had all but two digits of the serial number scratched off.

Near the lawn chair, prosecutors said, they found the magazine.

What happened to Officer Huesca?

According to court records, 22-year-old Tate Jr. accused of using a .40-caliber handgun to fatally shoot Huesca, who was found with multiple gunshot wounds near his Gage Park home on April 21. According to a police report, police discovered the coworker, 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.

Huesca was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center and later pronounced dead from his injuries. Huesca, a six-year veteran of the force, had just finished a shift and was on his way home in uniform when the shooting occurred. His Toyota SUV was stolen after the shooting but later recovered.

“The officer was wearing his uniform, (but) he had something covering it,” said Supt. said Larry Snelling. “We are currently still in the preparatory phase.”

Police are investigating the circumstances of the shooting and whether the incident started as a carjacking, officials said.

“What we do know is that the officer’s vehicle was taken, but to determine the overall motive of what happened we need more information and the detective division is working on that,” Snelling said.

Officials say the ATF and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office are assisting in the investigation.

who was found with gunshot wounds to the face near his Gage Park home on April 21.

His Toyota SUV was allegedly stolen but was later recovered, according to a police report. The report indicated that officers were investigating the incident as a possible carjacking.

Following the arrest of murder suspect Xavier Tate, NBC Chicago’s Alex Maragos takes a look at the timeline between Officer Luis Huesca’s murder and Tate’s arrest.

Huesca was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center and was later pronounced dead from his injuries. Huesca, a six-year veteran of the force, had just finished a shift and was on his way home in uniform when the shooting occurred.

Who was Officer Luis Huesca?

The arrest comes two days after law enforcement personnel filled the chairs at St. Rita Cascia Shrine Chapel in the city’s Beverly View neighborhood in Huesca’s honor.

One by one, family, friends and colleagues shared emotional stories at the slain officer’s funeral, each unveiling 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 enough words to describe (Luis) to those who didn’t have the privilege of meeting him. But I kept coming back to the phrase ‘give him the shirt his back.’ Because that’s exactly what Luis was. He was the kind of man who would go out of his way to help others no matter what,” said his friend Karim Ismat.

At the center of the long list of speakers paying their respects was Officer Lucia Chavez, a close friend and classmate of both Huesca and another fallen officer, Andrés Vásquez-Lasso, who was killed just 13 months earlier while responding to a domestic violence. fault call.

“I lost Andrés and now Luis,” Chavez said. “I lost my two classmates, my best friends, my brothers. The violence in this city took them from me and from us.”

Officer Luis Huesca, a six-year veteran of the force, was fatally shot in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood on April 21 as he returned home from work. At his funeral, moving tributes from family, friends and colleagues painted a moving portrait of the man he was, both with and without his badge.

Notably absent from the crowd were Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.

Johnson released 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 heal from the loss of their beloved son, nephew, brother and friend,” Johnson said in a statement. “As mayor, I pledge to continue to support our police and first responders, unite our city, and remain committed to working with everyone to build a better, stronger, and safer Chicago. Today my heart is with the Huesca family. God bless them and God bless the city of Chicago.”

The last-minute change came after multiple sources said NBC Chicago’s family asked Huesca Johnson not to attend.

Susana Mendoza, the Illinois state comptroller, said Huesca’s “grief-stricken mother” asked her and another state official to tell Johnson “that he was not welcome at her son’s funeral.”

Ultimately, it was Huesca’s character that took center stage.

“Luis, your nickname should be Lionheart. You are an exceptional person with courage, courage, community, humility and pride in your work,” Huesca Jr. said, reciting a letter he wrote to his late brother. “And you have devotion for those you touch, rest in peace my brother, and I love you.”