chicago gangs

To combat the problem of gang violence in Chicago directly, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is looking to hit gang members where it hurts by not only taking them to court but also coming for their assets. 

CHICAGO (AP) — Shawn Cotton no longer drives his $55,000, bright pink Corvette to work because he’s afraid it could get him killed like his friend. But there are two things he won’t leave home without: his bulletproof vest and the 9 mm pistol he slips into his pocket. Cotton, 28, quit his $7-an-hour job […]

CHICAGO (AP) — Members of a Chicago street gang suspected of killing at least 11 people and terrorizing a South Side neighborhood for years have been charged as part of a joint federal and state investigation announced Friday. The Goonie Boss faction, under purported leader, 22-year-old Romeo “O-Dog” Blackman, operated in the Englewood neighborhood, killing […]

CHICAGO (AP) — Police took steps on Tuesday to stave off retaliatory attacks by street gangs after a Chicago rapper known for taunting rivals on social media was shot in the head in a shootout during a funeral for his friend and a fellow rapper killed earlier in October. Five others were injured in the […]

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago police issued a bulletin Monday warning its officers about gangs armed with high-powered weapons, after three people were shot to death over the weekend — including two attending a memorial for the earlier victim. Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the three people who were killed in the shootings Sunday were all […]

CHICAGO (AP) — Police are examining dramatic video that captured a shooting that killed a toddler and a man authorities say was the intended target. The video, streamed live on Facebook, was taken from inside a car driven by a young woman who was wounded in the shooting. The man and 2-year-old Lavontay White were […]

CHICAGO (AP) — Jurors who heard the biggest gang trial in recent Chicago history on Wednesday convicted the core leadership of the Hobos, a group described by prosecutors as an “all-star team” of criminals whose ruthlessness reflected the kind of violence that led to the city’s alarming spike in homicides. To extend their power on […]

CHICAGO (AP) — The biggest street-gang trial in recent Chicago history starts in earnest with opening statements Wednesday, with months of testimony expected to provide a rare inside look at the kind of gangland activity that’s helped fuel deadly gun violence in the nation’s third largest city. On trial for federal racketeering charges are six […]

  CHICAGO (AP) — Thirteen people were shot to death over the Labor Day weekend in Chicago, making it the deadliest holiday weekend of one of the deadliest summers the city has experienced in decades. The police department also said the 13 were among 43 people who were shot over the weekend. Among those was […]

ATLANTA (AP) — Alleged members of the Gangster Disciples, including high-ranking leaders and an Atlanta-area police officer who prosecutors say claimed to be a hit man for the gang, have been charged with racketeering in a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday. The indictment filed in federal court in Atlanta last week names 32 people accused of […]

Lander Braggs was a model student: making good grades, involved in school and staying out of trouble. So when it came time to pick a…