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An off-duty Chicago police officer was shot and killed while walking home from work early Sunday morning, with the police chief calling it “another sad day” for the Windy City.
Police responded to a gunfire alert around 3 a.m. in the Gage Park area, police said.
When officers arrived, they found one of their own, Luis M. Huesca, 30, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, according to police and the mayor's office.
They rushed him to the University of Chicago Hospital, but the department's veterinarian, who has been working there for six years, was unable to arrive, according to NBC 5 Chicago.
“This officer was the victim of the type of crime he was working to keep the people of this city safe,” Superintendent Larry Snelling said. “Another sad day for the Chicago Police Department.”
The crooks also stole Huesca's car, but police have not confirmed whether the shooting was the result of a carjacking.
Authorities have not released a potential motive and no suspects are in custody.
Snelling told reporters that Huesca, who was days away from his 31st birthday, was still in uniform but had something on top of it, as is customary for off-duty officers. Ta.
He added that the slain officer was “just a great police officer and a great human being,” according to NBC.
“We have to keep the family and his mother in our prayers,” Snelling said. “These were senseless and senseless crimes that claimed the life of a member of our community and today a police officer.
“There are people in this city who live their lives in brazen and cowardly ways, committing acts of violence like this against decent, hard-working people,” the superintendent continued. “We're just trying to live their lives right.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson said he met with Huesca's mother and uncle Sunday morning and assured them “they have my administration's full support in dealing with this indescribable loss.”
“No family or community should have to suffer such pain,” Johnson said in a statement, according to NBC, adding that the shooting was an “unconscionable act of gun violence.”
“Our city is saddened and our condolences go out to Mr. Lewis' colleagues and community members, as well as their entire families,” the mayor said.
The circumstances leading up to the shooting are still unclear. Mr Snelling said the police investigation was still in its early stages.
Detectives were at the scene Sunday, marking the area and stuffing evidence into plastic bags, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The killings have also scared local residents, who say they don't normally see such incidents in Gage Park.
“The warning tape goes two or three blocks away,” resident Maria Jose told the Tribune in Spanish. “It's usually very quiet around here. I feel scared.”
According to the Tribune, Huesca is the third police officer shot in Chicago this year and the first fatality.
with post wire