Xavier Tate
Chicago Police Department
An arrest warrant was issued Friday for an Aurora man charged with fatally shooting Officer Luis Huesca last weekend in Gage Park.
Xavier L. Tate Jr., 22, is charged with first-degree murder in the April 20 slaying in the 3100 block of West 56th Street, court records show. No arrest has been reported.
Tate was previously charged with a misdemeanor count of criminal trespass to an Olympia Fields home in March, records show. That case is pending.
Huesca was attacked while driving from work to his apartment just blocks from the shooting scene, authorities said. He was still wearing his uniform when he was shot multiple times.
His SUV was stolen and later recovered nearby, according to sources. His gun and badge weren’t found at the scene.
The police department later issued a community alert that included surveillance videos of a person wanted in connection with Huesca’s slaying.
The alert asked for the public’s help identifying the male “subject,” who police said should be “considered armed and dangerous.” The videos appear to show him walking down a dark street and wearing different outfits at two convenience stores.
Saturday morning, a neighbor on the block of Tate’s listed Aurora address said his family lived there about four years until an eviction last year.
She complained of vandalism to her own home and other alleged criminal activity on the block when they were around.
“They’re the reason that everyone on the block has cameras,” said the neighbor, who didn’t want to be named.
On Tuesday, what would’ve been Huesca’s 31st birthday, his killing was formally classified as a line-of-duty death. The classification means Huesca’s family will now be entitled to additional benefits. The killing of Officer Aréanah Preston, shot during a robbery as she returned home from work last May, was similarly classified as a line-of-duty death.
At the police academy, Huesca was a classmate of Officer Andres Vasquez-Lasso, who was killed in the line of duty last year.
His wake will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at Blake-Lamb Funeral Home at 4727 W. 103rd St. in Oak Lawn. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Rita of Cascia Catholic Church at 7740 S. Western Ave. in Chicago.
Contributing: Mohammad Samra