Stories by Matt Masterson

Speaking Wednesday at his first Board of Education meeting since he was appointed as interim Chicago Public Schools CEO, Jose Torres said the district’s “true north” goal before reopening schools must be to make sure at-risk students are prepared to return to CPS.

A Cook County judge has appointed Lawrence Oliver to serve as special prosecutor in the case of Jackie Wilson, who wrongfully spent decades behind bars for a double murder he didn’t commit.

Federal authorities on Tuesday announced that Jose Valdovinos had been arrested earlier this week after a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging him with maliciously damaging and destroying a building in June 2020.

There were 52 separate shooting incidents between Friday evening and Sunday night, according to data from the Chicago Police Department. That includes a police shooting Sunday in the Kenwood community that left one person wounded.

Chicago Public Schools students and staff must continue wearing masks inside facilities and maintain 3 feet of social distancing where possible when in-person learning resumes at the end of August.

Eight people who had been around a party bus were shot on the North Side late Wednesday, marking the third shooting in Chicago with at least five victims in just a six-hour span, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Devontay Anderson allegedly used an AK-47 style weapon to fire more than two dozen shots into a car carrying a 7-year-old girl at a West Side McDonald’s in April, and then fled the state to avoid arrest.

During a sentencing hearing Tuesday, family members of the slain teen made clear they feel the man who served as the getaway driver was just as responsible as the man who fired the fatal shots in 2013.

Two months after federal authorities posted a $10,000 reward for his arrest, the second man accused of fatally shooting 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams as she sat in a McDonald’s drive-thru on the West Side has been found.

The city and Chicago Police Department did not have the “policies, reporting practices, training, equipment, data analysis, community engagement, or inter-agency coordination required to respond effectively” to widespread protests and unrest last summer, according to a new report.

Chicago police have recovered a record number of illegal firearms so far this year, but the city’s top cop on Monday said his department is now launching a team that will target those who buy the guns for others.

According to the Chicago Police Department, 56 people were shot in 44 shooting incidents between Friday evening and Sunday night. Eleven of those victims died.

The former 1st Ward alderman pleaded guilty to multiple charges Friday, but will avoid jail time, following a highly publicized 2019 incident in which he loaned his vehicle to a woman and then falsely claimed it had been stolen.

Frank Harris will remain in jail following his arrest on charges of murder and aggravated vehicular hijacking, stemming from the death of Keith Cooper, 73, who was struck in the head during an attempted carjacking.

According to a 41-page complaint filed Thursday, the Chicago Police Department has refused to share information about its social media monitoring task force, including the reason for its expansion, which accounts are tracked and what is done with that information.

Working to reverse a notion that Chicago and Illinois have become false confession capitals in the U.S., Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation Thursday that prohibits the use of deceptive tactics by law enforcement officers when interrogating juveniles.

A former Chicago Public Schools principal who was removed from her post two years ago amid allegations of financial misconduct is now facing federal charges alleging she authorized overtime for her employees and then collected back that cash for her own use.

Caleb Del Toro, 24, will remain in jail after he allegedly wounded an acquaintance and shot at a postal carrier during an incident on the Northwest Side earlier this month.

The school district on Tuesday released its budget proposal for the 2022 fiscal year, which includes $672 million for priority facility investments throughout the city and more than $1 billion in federal funding for student supports.

After meeting with President Joe Biden on Monday, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown reiterated his belief that there must be “real consequences for serious crimes.”

After being chased into his home while out for a walk with his dog, a 22-year-old Chicago man allegedly retrieved a firearm, went back outside and fatally shot a 26-year-old in the head on Friday evening.

According to the Chicago Police Department, 40 people were shot in 33 separate incidents over the weekend, including a man who was gunned down as he left the Cook County Jail on Saturday night.

Three Chicago Police Department officers and the marshal opened fire on the man after he refused to exit a vehicle in the 100 block of South Kilpatrick, according to police Superintendent David Brown.

Chicago’s Office of Inspector General found that while Black candidates make up 37% of the initial officer applicant pool, they comprised just 18% of the candidates who were ultimately invited to the CPD’s Police Academy.

A 28-year-old Chicago man who allegedly shot two federal agents and a Chicago police officer as they were driving Wednesday in an unmarked vehicle in Morgan Park apparently believed the victims were members of a rival street gang, according to federal prosecutors.

A Chicago police officer and two federal agents are expected to survive after they were shot early Wednesday while driving in a vehicle onto the I-57 highway. A person of interest is being questioned in connection with the shooting, officials said.