Chicago

The Trace’s Chicago bureau is part of our local journalism initiative, which seeks to cover gun violence at the community level, with the full participation of those who are most affected by the crisis. We are doing that through a mix of stories and engagement journalism. We are people-powered and accountability focused, which means we’ll use what we learn from residents to fuel our investigations.

Community Violence

Young People Dream Up a Safer Summer in Chicago

After Mayor Lori Lightfoot expanded the citywide curfew in response to a shooting, teenagers spoke about Chicago’s gun violence crisis and their relationship to the city.

Justin Agrelo

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Lead Reporters

Justin Agrelo

Justin, a Chicago native, previously worked at City Bureau, a nonprofit civic media organization in Chicago, where he covered housing and development. He was also an editorial fellow for Mother Jones magazine, writing for and fact-checking the online and print editions. In 2019, he earned his Master's of Science in journalism with a special focus on social justice and investigative reporting from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
Rita Oceguera

Before joining The Trace, Rita worked as a reporter for Injustice Watch, covering the criminal legal system and immigrant communities as a Report for America corps member. As an undergraduate, Rita studied anthropology and journalism at Northwestern University. She earned an M.S. with a concentration in social justice and investigative reporting at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.

Get Involved

We want to hear your perspective on what’s missing from coverage about gun violence in Chicago. What do people simply not understand about your neighborhood? You can chime in by answering this very short survey.