Officers taking the man accused of shooting and killing Chicago police officer Luis Huesca into custody used the fallen officer's handcuffs in the arrest, according to law enforcement sources.
Xavier Tate, who has been charged in Huesca's murder, was taken into custody Wednesday evening in suburban Glendale Heights, according to a Chicago alderman and sources familiar with the matter.
According to the source, it is law enforcement tradition to use a fallen officer's handcuffs in the arrest of the person accused of killing them.
Chicago police confirmed that Tate was arrested Wednesday.
Sources have confirmed the arrest to NBC Chicago, and Huesca's family confirmed that they were notified of the arrest by Chicago police.
According to court records, the 22-year-old is accused of using a 40-caliber handgun to fatally shoot Huesca, who was found with multiple gunshot wounds on April 21 near his Gage Park home. Police discovered the fellow officer, 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 later pronounced dead from his injuries. A 6-year veteran of the force, Huesca had just gotten off a shift and was heading home in uniform when the shooting occurred. His Toyota SUV was stolen following the shooting but was later recovered.
Court records show Tate, the suspect, was due in court earlier last week on an unrelated matter but did not appear. On April 22, one day following the deadly shooting, authorities released still images and video of a person of interest.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly> Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
In an update late Friday, Chicago police identified Tate as the individual in the previously-released footage.
Previously, Caschous Tate, a reported associate of Xavier Tate's, had been 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 house near 108th and South Hale to talk to a woman about the murder.
Tate, they said, answered the door and told officers to wait because his girlfriend was naked in a back room.
Another officer then observed Caschous Tate exit a back window and use a lawn chair to toss an item over the fence. The item was Huesca's gun, which prosecutors said had all but two digits of its serial number scratched off.
Near the lawn chair, prosecutors said, they found the magazine.
Tate is described as an associate of Tate, Jr., the man charged with Huesca's murder.
Police said he can be seen on numerous surveillance videos from shops near Huesca's Gage Park home.
The FBI had listed 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 body.
The Fraternal Order of Police and a number of other organizations offered a $100,000 reward for information that leads to his arrest and conviction.
