Stories by Matt Masterson

Interim Police Superintendent Fred Waller said Monday his department has “almost completely dispelled” the idea that the shots that injured two women were fired from outside the ballpark, according to reporting from the Chicago Tribune.

Judge George Strickland on Monday denied multiple motions filed on behalf of Robert Crimo Jr., including one that sought to have his criminal charges tossed out based on a violation of the state’s statute of limitations.

According to Chicago Police Department data, 24 people were shot in 18 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

Court records indicate Joseph Pavlik pleaded guilty Friday in a Washington D.C. courtroom to obstructing law enforcement and knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted building following his arrest early this year.

The verdicts came following a nearly three week trial and five hours of jury deliberations at the Dirksen Federal Building downtown.

“Our system of justice depends on the integrity of this process,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Schwartz told jurors Wednesday. “What (Mapes) didn’t do, ladies and gentlemen, was tell the truth.”

Tracy Marie Fiorenza, 41, was charged earlier this month in the Southern District of Florida with a count of transmitting a threat to kill or injure another person, according to a federal complaint.

Mayor Brandon Johnson joined CPS CEO Pedro Martinez and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates at Beidler Elementary School on the city’s West Side early Monday as kids began the 2023-24 school year.

According to Chicago Police Department data, seven people were killed over the weekend between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday. During that time 40 people were shot in total, in 33 separate incidents.

The prosecution was expected to formally rest Friday, the trial’s ninth day at the Dirksen Federal Building downtown, but due to technical delays and ongoing testimony, that will be pushed back to the start of next week.

The FBI-recorded calls played in court Thursday related to former state Rep. Lou Lang — who resigned his position in early 2019 amid sexual harassment allegations.

The city’s Board of Education will vote next week on a one-year contract worth up to $5 million with the Pittsburgh-based Fisher Scientific company to provide COVID-19 testing supplies to the school district for the upcoming academic year.

Raymond Comer, 38, filed a seven-count civil suit in Cook County court in which he claimed he was shot by a Chicago police officer multiple times as he sat inside a vehicle last August.

According to Lake County prosecutors, Estiven Sarminento, 16, appeared in court Tuesday after he was arrested on two counts of first-degree murder stemming from the fatal shooting Sunday of 16-year-old Omar Morales-Diaz.

According to Chicago Police Department data, 28 people were shot in 19 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

In a 4-3 decision issued Friday morning, the high court overturned a lower court’s ruling, stating the ban is constitutional and does not “deny equal protection nor constitute special legislation.”

This weekend will mark the end of Johnson’s 30-day window to pick the next superintendent of the Chicago Police Department from a list of three finalists: Angel Novalez, the head of CPD’s office of constitutional policing and reform; Larry Snelling, the chief of CPD’s counterterrorism bureau; and Shon Barnes, the police chief in Madison, Wisconsin.

“When the defendant answered those questions, the defendant lied,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said, “not just once, but again and again and again to prevent the grand jury from finding out what Madigan had done and what Madigan had done through him.”

Michael Goodman, 43, has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting that left Serabi Medina dead outside her home on the city’s Northwest Side.

Tim Mapes, 68, was indicted more than two years ago on a pair of charges stemming from his alleged false testimony before a 2021 grand jury about Madigan’s relationship with longtime confidant Michael McClain.

According to Chicago Police Department figures, 27 people were shot in 25 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday. That included the young girl who was fatally shot Saturday in the 3500 block of North Long Avenue.

City officials announced the lawsuit had been filed Thursday against Vision Property Management, LLC, its successor FTE Networks, Inc., and other affiliates in Cook County Circuit Court.

A city watchdog report has found Chicago Police Department rules that require the reporting of officer misconduct have been underenforced and are in some cases conflicting — issues which contribute to the existence of a so-called “code of silence.”

“No one was moved as a result of Lollapalooza,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Wednesday. “We are transitioning people into shelters. As a city, do we want people living in police stations? Is that acceptable? It’s not.”

University officials on Tuesday announced Lynch has been hired to examine the “processes and accountability mechanisms” already in place to detect, report and respond to potential misconduct across the NU athletics programs.

The renovation process, which is slated to begin in the coming weeks, is set to be divided into multiple phases that will extend across the next four years as the aquarium introduces new learning studios and exhibits and renovates its existing gardens and entrance points.