R.I.P.: Former WGN Crime Reporter Larry Schreiner

Larry Schreiner

Former WGN radio reporter Larry Schreiner, a legendary crime reporter who covered the John Wayne Gacy serial killings, the Palatine murders and the death of Mayor Harold Washington, passed away Thursday night of cardiac arrest, according to his son Mark Schreiner.

He was 72, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Schreiner began his career as a police officer in Skokie and then in Chicago before trading his badge for a notepad and video camera and becoming one of the first reporters to adopt the practice of shooting footage of crime scenes.

“He loved that stuff,” his son said. “He’s always been friends with and a fan of the fire department. He liked getting those stories out to the public.”His skill and dogged spirit as a reporter were remembered Thursday by a former colleague and competitor, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford, who often covered the same street crime stories as Schreiner in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Langford said Schreiner would shoot video footage overnight, make copies and sell it to Chicago TV news stations in time for their morning broadcasts. As the day progressed, he’d talk about his overnight stories on WGN 720 AM.

Schreiner left WGN Radio in 2005, but he was back on air earlier this year during a Valentine’s Day special with WGN’s Garry Meier.

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