Chicago cop killed in carjacking while off-duty near his home

Early Sunday Morning, an off-duty Chicago police officer was shot and killed on his way home from his shift.

In a statement, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson identified the officer as Luis M. Huesca the 5th District/Priority Response Team, who officials say would have celebrated his 31st birthday in two days. Huesca was a six-year member of the force.

According to CPD dispatch audio obtained by WGN 9, there was a ShotSpotter alert which indicated shots fired near the 5500 block of South Kedzie Avenue around 3 am Sunday.

In a statement, Chicago Police Department Supt. Larry Snelling said when officers arrived they found Huesca had been shot multiple times. Chicago Fire Department transported him to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

“He was just a great officer, great human being, and his family is dealing with a lot right now,” Snelling said. These are senseless, senseless crimes that are taking the lives of our community members, today of one of our officers."

"Today, that officer was a victim of the type of crime he was working against, to keep people safe in this city," he added. "There is a lot of violent crime out here, and there are people who are brazen, and cowardly in the way that they go about their days and carry out these violent acts against decent hard hard-working people of this city who are just trying to live their lives the right way."

Snelling noted that the investigation is preliminary at this stage, and they are looking for any information they can find. When asked, he could not confirm the crime was a carjacking, but that the officer's dark grey Toyota 4Runner was taken.

Mayor Johnson said his Community Safety team is working with CPD to assist in "apprehending anyone involved in this shooting and bringing them to justice."