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https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/05/03/water-bottle-purchase- fingerprints-helped-cops-catch-officer-luis-huescas-alleged-killer-police-
say/

https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/sync/D5627AQGASsbqgPzrEQ/articleshare- shrink_800/0/1714241662092?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=QxoBmNOJ24skJVkpwqSmS1RBR NkhNYt3GXejZGzmzUc

CHICAGO — The alleged killer of Officer Luis Huesca bought a water bottle
with his mother’s credit card near the scene of the crime, helping lead investigators to him, top city officials said Friday.

Xavier L. Tate Jr., 22, has been charged with murder, aggravated vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen firearm in the officer’s slaying. He
was ordered to be held in jail Friday afternoon during a hearing at the
Cook County Criminal Courthouse that drew a crowd of police officers there
to support Huesca’s family, who dressed in black.

Police issued a warrant for Tate last week. After what officials described
as a multistate manhunt involving police departments across Illinois,
Wisconsin and Iowa, Tate was arrested in suburban Glendale Heights
Wednesday night — with the arresting officers using the fallen officer’s handcuffs to restrain him, police Supt. Larry Snelling said.

“Removing this individual from the street does not only bring justice to
the Huesca family, it also assures the public that he will not have the opportunity to commit the same offense on anyone else in our society,”
Snelling said at a Friday press conference, flanked by Mayor Brandon
Johnson, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, Chief of Detectives
Antoinette Ursitti and other officials.

Huesca was driving home from work the morning of April 21 when he was
attacked by Tate in a carjacking, police and prosecutors said. Responding officers drove to the 3100 block of West 56th Street in Gage Park, where
they found Huesca outside with gunshot wounds, police said. He later died
at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Huesca was still in uniform and two days shy of his 31st birthday when he
was killed, police said. He was wearing something over his uniform at the
time, and police do not believe he was targeted because he was an officer, Ursitti said.

The officer’s Toyota 4Runner was stolen and found nearby, police said. His service weapon was later recovered during a police raid of the South Side
home of Tate’s friend in the 10800 block of South Hale Street, prosecutors said.

Huesca did not fire his weapon during the carjacking, police said. Tate
fired 10 shots at Huesca, prosecutors said.

Surveillance Camera Footage
At Tate’s bond court hearing Friday, prosecutors said Tate was captured by surveillance camera walking around the neighborhood in the early morning
hours of April 21. He went into two convenience stores to buy bottled
water with his mother’s EBT card, prosecutors said.

A resident in the 5800 block of South Sawyer Avenue saw Tate changing his clothes outside on the street and took a photo of him, believing that he
was acting suspicious, prosecutors said.

Tate left a Walgreens at 5435 S. Kedzie Ave. and start walking towards
Huesca’s home in Gage Park, prosecutors said. Huesca drove past Tate in
his SUV before parking in his driveway, prosecutors said.

That’s when Tate approached Huesca’s car on the driver’s side and fired 10 shots — striking the officer in his head, chest, arms and thighs,
prosecutors said.

Police responded to a ShotSpotter alert at the Gage Park home and did not
find Huesca’s service weapon, prosecutors said.

Ten shell casings found at the scene were connected to Tate through DNA analysis, prosecutors said.

Tate was captured on surveillance videos fleeing the scene in Huesca’s
SUV, abandoning it minutes after the shooting in a “secluded alley” on
South Mozart Street, prosecutors said. In some videos, Tate could be seen pacing around the SUV, rummaging through a backpack and changing clothes
again, prosecutors said.

A water bottle believed to be one Tate purchased at the Walgreens was
later recovered by police near where Tate ditched the car, prosecutors
said. Shoes, clothes and gloves Tate was seen wearing on camera were found
by police in a nearby garbage can.

Tate left the alley and stole a bicycle from the backyard of a house in
the 5600 block of South California Avenue, leaving fingerprints,
prosecutors said. His ensuing “bike flight” was captured on a “steady
network of surveillance cameras” until he arrived at a cousin’s house, prosecutors said. Police later found Tate’s phone broken into two pieces
in an alleyway along the biking route, prosecutors said.

The cousin let Tate use his phone to order an Uber to the house on the
10800 block of South Hale Street in Morgan Park, prosecutors said.

On April 26 police went to the Morgan Park house to speak with Caschaus
Tate, who prosecutors said was Xavier Tate’s friend. While officers were
inside the home, Caschaus Tate climbed out a window with a gun and tossed
the gun into the backyard, prosecutors said.

Police recovered the gun — which was Huesca’s weapon, prosecutors said.

Caschaus Tate was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in a
case that’s pending, prosecutors said.

Tate’s broken phone was later tracked to his movements in Gage Park
“before, during, and after the murder,” prosecutors said.

Between April 21 and May 2, police discovered Xavier Tate traveled to Wisconsin, Iowa and Rockford, Illinois before he was arrested in Glendale Heights.

After the bond court hearing, Huesca’s mother spoke to reporters, standing beside another son and FOP President John Catanzara, who each put an arm
around her.

“My son was a good police officer, a good son, a good brother, from a good family,” Edith Huesca said. “He didn’t do anything wrong, he just made the
best that he can.”

Emiliano Huesca Jr., the officer’s brother, said he felt “a little bit of relief” following the hearing.

“I know it’s going to be a couple more harder days as we keep going
along,” Huesca Jr. said. “I just want everyone to know there will be
justice done for my brother … to put our family at peace.”

Police had released surveillance footage and issued an arrest warrant for
Tate last week, offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to his capture. The reward combined funds from the Chicago Police Memorial
Foundation, the FBI, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Tate also appeared on an FBI
“Most Wanted” poster.

Ursitti did not directly answer a question Friday about whether the six-
figure reward will be paid out.

Police collected and reviewed video from more than 90 locations after the shooting that helped them identify Tate, Ursitti said. Police also
identified Tate’s fingerprints on a fence he was seen on video jumping
over after the shooting, Ursitti said.

Tate has two pending misdemeanor cases in Kane County for resisting arrest
and obstructing justice, prosecutors said. He also has a pending
misdemeanor case in Cook County, prosecutors said.

An earlier juvenile case in Kane County for unlawful possession of a
firearm was used for Tate’s DNA sample, prosecutors said.

Funeral For Fallen Officer
Huesca was buried Monday, with hundreds of police officers lining
Southwest Side streets for the procession and hundreds more gathered at
St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel, 7740 S. Western Ave., for his funeral.

Faith leaders led the crowd in chants of “Viva” and read the names of
other officers killed in the line of duty in recent years, including Ella French, Aréanah M. Preston and Andrés Mauricio Vásquez Lasso, a friend of Huesca’s who trained with him at the police academy.

Emiliano Huesca Jr. said his younger brother felt like an older one: wise, adventurous and selfless. Luis Huesca explored the forests in Utah, drove
a dirt bike on Route 66 from Chicago to California and strived to learn
Arabic on his travels to Morocco, Emiliano Huesca Jr. said.

Officer Lucia Chavez, fighting back tears at the funeral, said she became
fast friends with both Huesca and Lasso during their time at the academy.

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

Johnson did not attend the funeral after Huesca’s mother said he was “unwelcome.” During the Friday press conference, the mayor was peppered
with questions about why Huesca’s mother did not want him there at her
son’s funeral.

As mayor, Johnson wanted to be there for the family in a tragedy but
respected Huesca’s mother’s wishes after he learned of them, he said.

Catanzara, when asked about the mayor being asked not to attend Huesca’s funeral, said the call came from “echoing what Luis” told his family about
the direction of the city.

The mayor hasn’t supported police officers “from the beginning, and that’s
why the decision was made early on for him to not be invited,” Catanzara
said. “Who gets invited and who does not should be the family’s wishes, period.”


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No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
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Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
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President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.

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