The shooting death of an 18-year-old Loyola University Chicago student during a dawn walk to see the skyline has become the latest flashpoint in the national fight over immigration and "sanctuary" laws. Chicago police on Sunday charged Jose Medina-Medina, 25, a Venezuelan migrant, with first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated discharge of a firearm in the early Thursday shooting of Sheridan Gorman near Tobey Prinz Beach, per the Chicago Sun-Times. Immigration officials say ICE filed a detainer for Medina just hours before the charges were announced.
Homeland Security officials blamed "open border policies and sanctuary politicians" for Medina-Medina's presence in Illinois, urging Gov. JB Pritzker to ensure he isn't released again, per WPIX. The agency said Medina-Medina was twice detained in 2023, including in a shoplifting case in which he was accused of stealing $132.50 in goods from a Macy's in Chicago. Chicago Ward 15 Alderman Ray Lopez told News Nation that Medina-Medina defied an order to appear in court in that case. An arrest warrant remains active, per the Sun-Times.
Medina-Medina is now accused of emerging "from the shadows" to fire a single shot toward a group of friends who were hoping to take in the Northern Lights, according to a statement from Gorman's family. Gorman was struck in the torso, though a friend told the Sun-Times that the bullet didn't appear to have been "intentionally targeted toward any of us." Calling the shooting a "preventable act," Gorman's family said they are "gravely disappointed" in the system's failures and demanded the case be pursued "to the fullest extent" of state and federal law. Pritzker's office has not commented.
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