Caroline Kubzansky

Caroline Kubzansky covers criminal justice with a focus on violence and its root causes for the Tribune. She previously worked as a general assignment reporter and started her career covering the northern suburbs. A graduate of the University of Illinois-Springfield's Public Affairs Reporting Program and the University of Chicago, she is a committed Chicago partisan and a native of Washington, D.C.

A rosary is among the items left at a memorial for slain Chicago police Officer Andrés Mauricio Vásquez Lasso along the 5200 block of South Spaulding Avenue, March 3, 2023, in Chicago. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Jury views footage from Andrés Vásquez’s body camera on third day of trial of man accused of killing him

July 17, 2025 at 5:17 p.m.

Prosecutors opened the third day of trial for the man accused of killing Chicago Police officer Andrés Vásquez Lasso with the slain cop’s own body-worn camera footage that captured the...

Boy, 11, shot while walking home from Hamilton Park

July 16, 2025 at 3:22 p.m.

An 11-year-old boy was in good condition after he was shot Tuesday afternoon in Englewood while walking home with his siblings from a nearby park.

Officers work the scene where a 33-year-old man was shot on the 7100 block of South Ridgeland Avenue in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood on July 15, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Man working as peacekeeper shot in South Shore: ‘We got a long way to go’

July 16, 2025 at 3:37 p.m.

Tumbo Brooks scrubbed the sweat from his face with a gray washcloth Tuesday night as he hurried down East 71st Street to the police tape. Arne Duncan stood at the...

A piece of yellow police tape remains on West Garfield Boulevard on April 29, 2014, at the site where Endia Martin, 14, was shot and killed April 28. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune)

Man who served time for shooting death of Endia Martin shot in Gold Coast

July 15, 2025 at 5:03 p.m.

A man was shot on the near North Side Monday afternoon about two years after he was released from a 100-year prison sentence for his part in the April 2014...

Mello Buckzz performs with Latto at the Sahara Tent during the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 23, 2023, in Indio, California. (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Coachella)

Father of rapper whose party was shooting target released pending gun charge trial

July 11, 2025 at 4:42 p.m.

Melvin Doyle is charged with selling guns to undercover informants, including after shooters killed four outside an album release party for his daughter, rapper Mello Buckzz.

People walk near an ambulance while officers work the scene of a mass shooting near the 300 block of West Chicago Avenue in the River North neighborhood on July 2, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Stubborn feud between gangs surfaces again in River North mass shooting

July 10, 2025 at 6:13 a.m.

A week after shocking mass shooting outside River North lounge, links to city's worst gang feud have surfaced again.

A plastic flower in a bottle and containers of alcohol are left next to a tree as a resident cleans a sidewalk in the 4800 block of South Justine Street Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Chicago. Seven people were shot on the block late Friday. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

7 wounded, 2 critical in Back of the Yards shooting: Police

July 5, 2025 at 2:23 p.m.

A paramedic with the Chicago Fire Department emerged from a pale clapboard house in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood around 11:15 p.m. Friday and yelled to the other emergency...

Chicago police investigative services officers retrieve evidence after a house fire in the 3600 block of West Palmer Street on July 4, 2025. At least five people, including three children, were transported to area hospitals stemming from a domestic incident and resulting fire. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

4-year-old dead and others injured after stabbings, fire in Logan Square: police

July 5, 2025 at 1:48 p.m.

A 4-year-old boy died after a woman allegedly stabbed multiple people inside a Logan Square residence before setting the home on fire Friday morning, police said.

A Chicago police officer investigates a mass shooting where four people were killed and 14 were wounded late Wednesday night in the 300 block of West Chicago Avenue in the River North neighborhood on July 3, 2025. (Peter Tsai/Chicago Tribune)

‘This wasn’t some random shooting’: Police dig in after drive-by attack at River North album release party kills 4, wounds 14 others

July 7, 2025 at 11:26 a.m.

A drive-by mass shooting killed four people and wounded 14 more late Wednesday night in River North, Chicago police said.

Yolanda Rivera calls for greater transparency in the investigation into the shooting death of her daughter, Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera, with attorney Antonio Romanucci, left, and Krystal's stepfather, Rico Thompson, at Romanucci & Blandin law office in Chicago on July 2, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

‘I need to understand what happened’: Family of Officer Krystal Rivera asks for answers as lawyers announce civil investigation

July 2, 2025 at 4:32 p.m.

The family of slain Chicago Police officer Krystal Rivera is calling for city agencies to relinquish the investigation of her death and, instead, turn over the probe to the Illinois...

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