Sam Charles

Sam Charles is a criminal justice reporter for the Chicago Tribune covering the Chicago Police Department. He was previously a staff reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times and an investigative producer at WGN-TV. He is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago.

Debris from a party is left behind on Aug. 30, 2026, near the 5400 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue in Washington Park after an overnight mass shooting left one person dead and more than a dozen others injured on Chicago’s South Side. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Victims recovering from late-summer mass shooting in Washington Park as police look for answers

August 31, 2026 at 6:30 p.m.

15 shot in Washington Park in what ultimately became the largest mass shooting Chicago has seen this year.

Workers with Wallace-Harris Funeral Home transport a body near a Chicago Fire Department station at 250 North Breakwater Access after a person was pulled from the water near Oak Street Beach earlier in the day on May 15, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Late payments threaten business license of Chicago body removal contractor

August 30, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The small funeral home company that holds the lucrative contract for the city’s body removal services may soon be dissolved due to its failure to pay business license fees to...

Chicago Police and U.S. Postal Inspector Police investigate the scene on the 12100 block of South Harvard where a U.S. mail carrier was shot and killed in the West Pullman neighborhood, July 19, 2024. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

3rd person charged in 2024 killing of letter carrier on Far South Side

August 26, 2026 at 4:23 p.m.

A third person has been charged in connection with the 2024 killing of a United States Postal Service letter carrier on the Far South Side, authorities announced Wednesday.

Anthony Driver Jr., then a candidate for the 7th Congressional District seat, attends a candidate forum at Malcolm X College on Nov. 3, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Hiring firm retained as search for next Chicago Police Department superintendent moves forward

August 24, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The city agency responsible for vetting Chicago Police Department candidates retained an executive search firm to winnow down future applicants.

Officers investigate the South Chicago Chapel funeral home where 56 bodies were discovered on Aug. 6, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Missed opportunities, incomplete investigations preceded discovery of 56 bodies at funeral home

August 15, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

The ongoing investigation into South Chicago Chapel is just the latest grim incident involving the so-called death care industry and highlights weaknesses within state law and enforcement.

The Chicago Police Department and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability have each opened investigations after a viral video surfaced purporting to show an off-duty CPD sergeant profanely threatening a group of teenagers and their families on the Southwest Side. (X)

CPD sergeant stripped of police powers after profane, threatening video surfaces

August 12, 2026 at 4:31 p.m.

The Chicago Police Department and Civilian Office of Police Accountability have both opened investigations after a viral video surfaced this week purporting to show an off-duty CPD sergeant profanely threatening...

Marimar Martínez listens to her attorney, Christopher Parente, testify about the day she got shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent during an Illinois Accountability Commission hearing at the Michael A. Bilandic Building in the Loop on April 28, 2026. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

10 criminal complaints filed with Chicago police stemming from Operation Midway Blitz

August 11, 2026 at 3:12 p.m.

The Chicago woman shot five times last year by a federal immigration agent was among 10 people on Monday who filed criminal complaints with the Chicago Police Department against federal...

Community violence interrupters and representatives from the Chicago Police Department’s Office of Victim Services canvass the area with flyers about support services on June 23, 2026, after a mass shooting injured 12 people during a gathering nearby in the 200 block of West 95th Street last Friday in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Meeting victims where they are, CPD expands assistance in domestic violence cases

August 11, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

It’s the most common 911 call in Chicago. Across the city every day, more than 50 calls are placed to report a domestic battery.

Workers remove bodies from the South Chicago Chapel in the South Deering neighborhood on Aug. 7, 2026. The remains of over 50 people were discovered the day before at the funeral home in the 2900 block of East 95th Street. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

‘I want to see some justice’: Families, officials call for change amid investigation into funeral home

August 7, 2026 at 7:22 p.m.

Authorities on Friday continued to investigate after the remains of more than 50 people were recovered Thursday at a South Deering funeral home on the city’s Southeast Side.

Workers transport a body at the scene where the remains of more than 50 people were discovered at a funeral home near the 2900 block of East 95th Street, Aug. 7, 2026, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

More than 50 decomposing bodies found in Southeast Side funeral home, officials say

August 7, 2026 at 10:22 a.m.

The remains of 57 people were recovered Thursday at a South Deering funeral home, according to multiple law enforcement sources.

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