Stories by Matt Masterson

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced Tuesday new federal legislation targeting the straw purchasing of firearms, nearly a year after a Chicago police officer was fatally shot with such a weapon during a traffic stop in Englewood.

The city’s Board of Education on Wednesday will vote on a one-year, $10 million contract renewal with the Chicago Police Department that would allow it to provide school resource officers in several Chicago high schools.

According to Chicago Police Department data, 65 people were shot in 43 separate shootings between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

Three people are in custody following the shooting, according to Police Superintendent David Brown, while a fourth man allegedly involved is still being sought.

“ShotSpotter inflates gunfire statistics, thereby providing false justification for oppressive police tactics in neighborhoods under its surveillance — all of which are already overpoliced,” attorneys wrote in a federal lawsuit against the city of Chicago.

Chicago police said the teen has been arrested and charged with one count each of vehicular hijacking and aggravated battery. 

Tiarra Berry, 19, has been charged with one count each of battery to a transit passenger and robbery stemming from the March 1 incident.

After three Chicago Police Department employees died by suicide in recent weeks, Police Superintendent David Brown is defending his decision to cancel days off during the historically violent summer months.

The governor is experiencing “mild symptoms” and has been prescribed Paxlovid, an antiviral medication used to treat the disease.

According to Chicago Police Department data, there were 22 separate shootings between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has tapped former alderperson Michael Scott Jr. as a new member of the Chicago Board of Education, barely a month after the former Committee on Education and Child Development chair stepped down from the City Council.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois filed a civil suit against the Cubs, alleging the team discriminated against people with disabilities in renovating Wrigley Field under its extensive reconstruction endeavor known as “the 1060 Project.”

Police Superintendent David Brown on Wednesday said 28-year-old Jabari Edwards was arrested in Burlington, Iowa and will face two counts of attempted murder stemming from the June 1 shooting.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability in a statement Wednesday said it has learned an officer who was facing a possible termination, has instead resigned from the Chicago Police Department. Due to that, COPA also released its investigatory findings from the July 2020 incident and recommended that Officer Nicholas Jovanovich, Sergeant Kevin Gleeson and Lieutenant Godfrey Cronin all be fired from the department.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Wednesday urged potential donors and surviving victims to use caution and be on alert for scams related to the July 4 shooting that left seven people dead and dozens more wounded.

Federal records show that R. Kelly is currently being housed in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago following an extended stay in a New York detention center during his racketeering and sex trafficking trial in that jurisdiction.

Since its launch last month, more than 2,100 people have applied for rebates through the city’s Home and Business Protection Program, Chicago officials said Tuesday.

According to Cook County prosecutors, a 22-year-old man fired 19 shots at a crowd of people outside Sean's Rhino Bar & Grill, 10330 S. Western Ave., striking a 31-year-old off-duty Chicago police officer in the back.

Two more people were killed in separate shootings early Monday morning and another man was wounded in a shootout inside a South Loop parking garage.

Jerry Harris, 22, entered a guilty plea on charges of knowingly receiving child pornography and engaging in illicit sexual conduct during a remote hearing before a Chicago judge Wednesday afternoon.

The man charged with killing seven people at Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade allegedly confessed his involvement to investigators, telling them he “looked down his sights, aimed and opened fire” at parade-goers, while stopping twice to reload his high-powered rifle with 30-round magazines.

If convicted of those charges, Robert Crimo III faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, said Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart. Crimo will also face “dozens” of more charges to account for each of the 38 victims who were wounded, as well as those who were “psychologically harmed,” Rinehart said.

According to Chicago Police Department data, 68 people were shot in 51 separate shootings between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Monday night during the holiday weekend.

Zoe Kolpack, a pre-kindergarten teacher at William Dever Elementary, and her husband were among those wounded during Monday's mass shooting. A GoFundMe has already collected more than $130,000 for their medical bills.

Data published Friday by the Chicago Police Department shows there have been 310 homicides and 1,255 shootings in the city through the end of June. Both those figures are below the pace set through the first six months of 2021 and 2020.

The officer was shot multiple times and was rushed to Stroger Hospital, police said.