The request came hours after Chicago police announced murder charges in the fatal shooting of freshman Sheridan Gorman near Loyola University Chicago.
CHICAGO, IL — The Department of Homeland Security asked Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Sunday not to release a Venezuelan man accused of killing Loyola University Chicago freshman Sheridan Gorman, hours after police said they had charged Jose Medina, 25, in the 18-year-old student’s shooting death.
The federal request turned a campus homicide investigation into a broader fight over immigration enforcement and Illinois sanctuary policies. Chicago police said Medina now faces murder and other felony charges in the March 19 shooting near Tobey Prinz Beach in Rogers Park. DHS said Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged an arrest detainer, while state and city officials have not publicly committed to any change in how they would handle the case. A detention hearing was scheduled for Monday.
Authorities said Gorman was walking with friends near the pier at Tobey Prinz Beach around 1 a.m. Thursday when a man approached on foot, pulled out a gun and fired. Police have said Gorman, a first-year student from Yorktown, New York, was shot in the head and died at the scene. No one else in the group was wounded. Investigators said early in the case that they did not believe she was the intended target. Her family later said she had left her dorm with friends to try to see the Northern Lights near the lakefront, a trip they described as ordinary and close to campus. In a statement released over the weekend, the family said she had been in a place where she had every reason to feel safe. Loyola President Mark C. Reed earlier called her death a tragic loss for the university community.
Chicago police announced Sunday evening that Medina, a Rogers Park resident, had been charged with one felony count of first-degree murder, one felony count of attempted first-degree murder, three felony counts tied to aggravated assault or discharge of a firearm, and one felony weapons count. Campus and local reports said police arrested him Friday evening, about a day after the shooting, in the 6800 block of North Sheridan Road, a short distance from the lakefront crime scene. Police have not publicly described a motive, and court records available Sunday did not explain why investigators believe Medina targeted the group. What is public is the charge list and the timing: police said the arrest followed two days of investigation, after officers first said they were questioning a person of interest. The investigation remains open, with detectives still working to reconstruct the shooting and the moments before and after it.
DHS said Medina is a Venezuelan national who was first taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol in May 2023 and later released into the United States. The agency also said he was arrested again in Chicago in 2023 in a retail theft case and released. Local court records cited by Chicago news outlets show a misdemeanor theft case involving about $132.50 in merchandise taken from the Macy’s store on State Street, and an outstanding warrant remained active in that matter. Those details quickly became central to the federal response. Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement that ICE had lodged a detainer and called on Illinois leaders not to free Medina from jail. Pritzker’s office did not immediately comment Sunday. The case has also drawn attention because police and federal immigration authorities operate under separate legal rules in Illinois, where cooperation with immigration enforcement is limited by state law unless specific conditions are met.
That legal backdrop is likely to shape the next stage of the case as much as the criminal charges themselves. Illinois’ TRUST Act, signed in 2017, generally restricts local law enforcement from holding people solely on immigration detainers or assisting federal civil immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant or other qualifying legal basis. Critics of that law, including Trump administration officials, argued Sunday that the policy helped leave Medina free before Gorman’s killing. Supporters of the state law have long said it is meant to separate local policing from federal immigration work and encourage immigrant communities to report crimes without fear. Sunday’s clash did not change the immediate criminal process: Medina was expected in court Monday for a detention hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse. There, a judge was set to decide whether he would remain jailed while the murder case moves forward. No federal charge had been announced as of Sunday night.
The killing has shaken both Loyola’s North Side campus and Gorman’s hometown in suburban New York. Friends and neighbors gathered at the lakefront over the weekend to leave flowers and mourn at the pier where she was shot. In Yorktown, residents lit green bulbs in a public show of support for her family, and relatives said private and public services were being planned for the coming week. In their statement, the family described Sheridan as the heart of their family and a young woman who made people feel seen, safe and loved. They also said the case should not be dismissed as simple bad luck or the wrong place at the wrong time. On campus, Loyola said it remained in contact with law enforcement and had made counseling and support services available to students. The university has said it does not believe there is an ongoing threat to the campus community.
As of late Sunday, Medina had been charged and was awaiting Monday’s detention hearing, while DHS was pressing Illinois officials to ensure he stays in custody. The next major milestone is the court hearing on March 23, when a judge is expected to address pretrial detention and prosecutors may outline more of the evidence.
Author note: Last updated March 23, 2026.
Featured image prompt: Horizontal 1200×630 news photo illustration of a quiet Chicago lakefront pier near Loyola University at night after a police investigation, yellow tape near a beach walkway, distant city skyline lights, early spring cold air, memorial flowers resting by a railing, somber documentary style, no logos, no identifiable faces.