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 publicly for the first time Saturday. In a video conversation with Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police, Edith Huesca, Huesca’s mother, said she will never be the same.
As people streamed into the building around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, 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.”
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 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.”
Both Huesca and Officer Aréanah Preston, who was shot and killed as she returned from a late-night shift last May, served in the Calumet (5th) District. Just over a year ago, Huesca eulogized his friend Officer Andrés Vásquez Lasso in a video after Vásquez Lasso was killed in the line of duty.
“This is becoming too frequent, and it’s upsetting,” Okninski said. “The lack of respect nowadays for police officers is just horrible. I just feel so sorry for all the officers for what they’re going through.”
Dan Beazley, a Detroit native, walked up and down the line outside the visitation holding a 10-foot cross. Beazley said he was there hoping to help the family start the healing process.
“These officers put their life on the line every day. I would travel across the country to just about anywhere to support them,” Beazley said. “I hope seeing this cross helps them heal.”
Funeral Services for Huesca are set to take place at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel in Chicago’s Ashburn neighborhood.