CHICAGO (AP) — A 22-year-old man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a Chicago police officer who was slain while off-duty and heading home from work, authorities said Thursday.
Xavier L. Tate Jr. was charged with first-degree murder, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said. He is due in court Friday morning.
Messages seeking information about whether Tate has an attorney who could speak on his behalf were left Thursday with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office by The Associated Press.
Tate was taken into custody Wednesday evening by the Chicago Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force for the murder of Officer Luis M. Huesca, 30, Chicago police said in a post on the social platform X.
“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,” the post adds.
The Chicago Police Department's office of news affairs said Thursday that no additional information was available regarding the case involving Tate and that the investigation was ongoing.
A Cook County judge issued an arrest warrant last Friday charging Tate with murder in Huesca's killing. The officer was shot multiple times shortly before 3 a.m. on April 21 on the city’s Southwest Side and pronounced dead at a hospital.
He was in uniform but wearing something on top of it to cover it as is customary for off-duty officers, Superintendent Larry Snelling said.
Huesca, a six-year veteran of the police department, was found outside with gunshot wounds, police have said. His vehicle was taken, but police have not confirmed whether the shooting was part of a carjacking.
Hundreds of people lined the streets Monday for a funeral procession for Huesca, who was laid to rest following church services in Chicago.
The family of Chicago police Officer Luis Huesca, including his mother Edith Huesca, and his sister, Lily O'Brien, follow his casket inside St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel for his funeral on Monday, April 29, 2024. Hundreds of mourners lined the streets to say farewell to the police officer who was shot to death while off-duty and heading home from work. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)
Pallbearers bring in the casket of Chicago police officer Luis M. Huesca for his funeral at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel in Chicago, Monday, April 29, 2024. Huesca was shot to death while off-duty and heading home from work. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — An exhaustive rescue operation to find missing construction workers trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building in South Africa will end on Friday after nearly two weeks and with 19 people still unaccounted for, authorities said.
At least 33 people have been confirmed dead after the collapse of the unfinished five-story apartment complex in the city of George on the country's south coast on May 6.
That death toll is expected to ultimately increase to over 50 as it changes to a recovery and clear-up operation. The decision, announced by the George municipality and its disaster response unit, means rescuers don't expect to find anyone else alive in the debris and are presuming that the remaining 19 workers who have been missing for 12 days are dead.
The tragedy was one of South Africa's worst building collapses. Authorities say there were 81 workers on the site when the building came down. They say that 29 survivors were pulled from the rubble, with some of those still hospitalized.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the collapsed building on Thursday to show support for the victims' families, emergency workers and others who have been on the site for more than 250 hours, working night and day in shifts to try and find survivors.
More than 600 emergency responders and other personnel were part of the search in the days after the collapse, although that had been scaled down.
There were some remarkable stories of survival amid the thousands of tons of concrete that collapsed, including a man who was found alive after being trapped for six days without food and water. Rescuers said he incredibly had only minor injuries.
As the rescue operation ends, the building will be handed over to the national department of employment and labor to conduct an investigation into the collapse, city authorities said. There will be multiple other investigations, including by police and the provincial Western Cape government.
Many of the workers were foreign nationals from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
The construction contractors responsible for the building have come under scrutiny and the investigations will probe whether they adhered to safety standards. The building was due to be completed in July or August.
AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
Rescue teams at the site of a building collapse in George, South Africa, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Rescue teams are into a third day searching for dozens of construction workers buried in the rubble of an unfinished five-story apartment building that collapsed in South Africa. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)
Rescue personnel search the site of a building collapse in George, South Africa, Thursday, May 9, 2024. Rescue teams searching for dozens of construction workers missing after a multi-story apartment complex collapsed in the coastal city have not brought out more survivors in the past 24 hours. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
The scene of a collapsed building in George, South Africa, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Five workers have been killed with 49 still trapped after the building under construction collapsed Monday. (AP Photo)
Residents watch rescue workers search the site of a building collapse in George, South Africa, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Rescue teams are searching for dozens of construction workers missing after a multi-story apartment complex collapsed in the coastal city have brought out more survivors as the operation entered a second night of desperate work to find anyone alive in the mangled wreckage. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Emergency workers on the scene of a building collapse in the city of George, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Rescue teams trying to find dozens of construction workers missing since a multi-story apartment complex collapsed in a coastal city in South Africa have made contact with 11 people buried alive beneath the mangled wreckage, authorities said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)
A survivor is bought to the surface at the scene of a building collapse in the city of George, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Rescue teams trying to find dozens of construction workers missing since a multi-story apartment complex collapsed in a coastal city in South Africa have made contact with 11 people buried alive beneath the mangled wreckage, authorities said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)
