An off-duty police officer in Chicago was gunned down while driving home from work early Sunday morning, ABC7 reported.
The six-year veteran officer, 30-year-old Luis Huesca, was still in uniform when he was shot and killed on the Southwest Side of the city, according to ABC7.
Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling said that after officers responded to a gunshot detection alert near 3 am, they discovered Huesca’s bullet-ridden body, ABC7 reported. Snelling added that Huesca’s car had been taken.
Later Sunday morning, Snelling noted during a press conference that Huesca was pronounced dead after being taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center.
“He was a great officer,” Snelling said. “A great human being, and his family is dealing with a lot right now.”
Residents in the neighborhood where the shooting occurred told ABC7 that they heard gunshots and were devastated to find out that an officer was killed. (RELATED: Police Officer Shot Dead By Teen Over Suspicious Vehicle Stop, Police Say)
The search continues for a shooter who killed a Chicago police officer as he went home from work Sunday morning. https://t.co/fPWy61AxlM
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) April 22, 2024
“It’s just really sad how the community has gone … a cop dying and he was really young,” resident Kimberly Belacco said. “It’s something that we need to change.”
Huesca’s car was apparently located a half-mile from the scene a few hours after the shooting while officers searched the area gathering evidence and interviewing residents, ABC7 reported.
“The vehicle found in the alley here, we believe it was the officer’s,” 15th Ward Alderman Ray Lopez said. “If it was a carjacking, there might be evidence inside… an attempted carjacking… who knows, but all that evidence is being collected right now.”
Huesca’s death follows on the heels of another cop killing nearly one year ago, when in the same district Officer Areanah Preston was gunned down near the steps of her home after finishing work, according to ABC7.
Preston’s mother, Dionee Mhoon, told ABC7 Sunday that losing a child is something that she would not wish on any parent.
“Somebody’s just trying to get back to their family, trying to get back home serving us… it’s just devastating,” Mhoon said.
Authorities said that they’re still searching for a suspect and that they have yet to establish a motive for the shooting, ABC7 reported.