Suspect in slaying of Officer Luis Huesca arrested in Glendale Heights — with Huesca's own handcuffs
Police arrest Xavier L. Tate Jr., 22, in Glendale Heights Wednesday evening.
Photo provided to the Sun-Times.
The suspect wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca was arrested Wednesday in west suburban Glendale Heights — with the slain officer's own handcuffs used to detain him, according to law enforcement sources.
Xavier L. Tate Jr., 22, was taken into custody without incident shortly after 7 p.m. following a “multi-state investigation” that involved the Chicago Police Department and “many other” law enforcement agencies, according to Belkis Sandoval, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Authorities had issued an arrest warrant for Tate on Friday night, when documents filed by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office charged him with first-degree murder in the April 21 shooting in the Gage Park neighborhood.
“We thank all of our law enforcement partners who assisted in the apprehension of this suspect as we work to bring justice to Officer Huesca and his family,” the Chicago Police Department said in a statement.
“The investigation continues and no further information is available at this time. We ask that the people of this city continue to support the Huesca family by keeping them in your prayers as they continue to mourn the loss of a beloved son, brother and uncle.”
Huesca was driving home from work in his police uniform when he was carjacked and shot around 2:50 a.m. on April 21 in the 3100 block of West 56th Street, not far from Huesca’s home.
A ShotSpotter alert was sent out at 2:53 a.m. for 5501 S. Kedzie Ave., which is around the corner and down the block from where Huesca was found about six minutes later. Roughly 30 gunshots were fired, and it’s unclear whether Huesca returned fire, according to sources.
Huesca’s Toyota 4Runner was stolen and later recovered blocks away, sources said. Huesca's Glock 9 mm pistol was recovered Friday during a raid at a Far South Side home after it was allegedly tossed over a fence by a relative of Tate, Caschaus Tate, who is charged with unlawful use of a weapon.
Xavier Tate Jr., whose address in court records is listed in Aurora, was identified as a suspect a day after the shooting. His photo was circulated by several law enforcement agencies, including on an FBI "Most Wanted" poster. A $100,000 reward for his arrest was announced days later.
Chicago police first issued a community alert a day after the slaying with surveillance video of a person police said was Tate making purchases at two convenience stores and walking down a dark alley. That person was in the area around the time of the shooting and changed clothes afterward, according to a source briefed on the investigation.
Huesca had been on the police force for six years and was two days away from his 31st birthday. His killing was classified as a line-of-duty death, meaning Huesca’s family will be entitled to additional benefits.
Hundreds mourned Huesca and remembered him as a "pillar of strength and a beacon of kindness" at his funeral Monday at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel.
Huesca had attended the police academy alongside Officer Andrés Vásquez Lasso, who was fatally shot in the line of duty just more than a year ago.
Officer Lucia Chavez, who attended Huesca's funeral, said she met both Huesca and Lasso at the academy, and the three formed a quick bond.
"I lost Andres first and now Luis," Chavez said, fighting through tears. "I lost my two classmates, my best friends, my brothers. The violence in this city took them away from me, from us."