Slain Chicago police Officer Luis Huesca mourned at visitation: 'An attack on the entire community'

CHICAGO — More than 200 police officers, relatives and members of the public stood in line Sunday outside Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn waiting for Chicago police Officer Luis Huesca’s visitation services to begin.

Huesca, 30, was shot and fatally wounded driving home from work April 21 in Gage Park while in uniform. Late Friday night, the Chicago Police Department announced a suspect in the case, and a judge signed off on a warrant for the arrest of Xavier Tate Jr.

Huesca’s family spoke Saturday in a video conversation with Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police.

“April 23 was his birthday, and it was so hard for me,” Edith Huesca said in the video. “For me as a mother, I’m asking for justice. It won’t give us a lot, but it’ll just give us a little relief in our pain.”

As people streamed into the building around early Sunday afternoon, two police officers sat outside the doors on police horses.

Bernice Granado said she was a police officer in Chicago for 10 years and came to Huesca’s visitation Sunday to support his family. “It hurts right here,” Granado said, gesturing to her heart. “I never knew him, but he still feels like family. It hurts.”

Gene Roy, a former police chief of detectives who was with the department for 35 years, said he’s tired of going to funerals and visitations and hopes this is the last visitation he’ll have to attend.

“Our hearts go out today to the family, the friends, the coworkers, and ultimately, the entire city,” Roy said. “Because when an officer falls in the line of duty, is murdered senselessly, it’s not just an attack on the officer, but an attack on the entire community we live in.”

Maria Okninski, a medical professional and a Chicago-area resident, also attended Sunday’s services. She said she came because she thinks support for police officers has fallen.

According to Chicago Tribune reports, Huesca is the third Chicago police officer to be shot — and the first fatally — this year, a figure Okninski said is “unacceptable and tragic.”

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