18 hours ago
1
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
Sheridan Gorman, 18, was killed last week near Loyola University Chicago. The Trump administration has sought to highlight crimes committed by undocumented people in its deportation campaign.
March 22, 2026
Loyola University Chicago was shaken last week when someone shot and killed one of its students, Sheridan Gorman, as she walked with friends near Lake Michigan.
For days, the police said little about what happened, only that “an unknown male offender” had approached the group at about 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, displayed a gun and fired in their direction. Ms. Gorman, 18, who was recalled by friends as generous and fun, was killed.
As Ms. Gorman’s family and friends grieved, her death was thrust into the nation’s contentious immigration debate on Sunday when the Trump administration said that a man arrested in connection with the killing was from Venezuela and in the United States illegally.
“She was failed by open border policies and sanctuary politicians,” said Lauren Bis, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, in a statement that called for the man to remain in jail.
The man, Jose Medina, 25, was charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, the Chicago Police Department said on Sunday. Mr. Medina, whose name was rendered as Jose Medina-Medina by federal officials, was arrested on Friday and expected to make an initial court appearance on Monday. It was not known whether he has a lawyer.
It was not clear from police records whether Mr. Medina, who the police said lived near the Loyola campus on Chicago’s Far North Side, had any connection to the university or to Ms. Gorman, who was from Yorktown Heights, N.Y., in Westchester County. Her family said in a statement to NBC Chicago that she had been outside on Thursday morning hoping “to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights.”
