Sheridan Gorman’s parents demand justice after Loyola freshman’s fatal shooting

Sheridan Gorman’s parents say their 18-year-old daughter was killed in a preventable murder, and they are now pressing a case that has exposed questions about safety around Loyola University Chicago’s lakefront edge. Jessica and Thomas Gorman, who live in Yorktown, New York, spoke publicly for the first time after the fatal shooting of the Loyola freshman near Tobey Prinz Beach and Loyola Beach in Rogers Park.

Police say Gorman was walking with friends near the Loyola Lake Shore Campus after the group went to the lakefront to take photos, and in one account, to watch the Northern Lights. Around 1:06 a.m. to 1:30 a.m., depending on the report, a masked man in black approached the group and opened fire. Gorman was struck in the head, back and neck. She died at the scene or shortly after at a nearby hospital, and no one else was injured.

Chicago police later arrested and charged 25-year-old Jose Medina-Medina with first-degree murder and other offenses. Prosecutors have described the killing as random and egregious, and court reporting says the case relies on surveillance video and witness accounts. On April 3, federal prosecutors added a gun charge, giving the case both state and federal dimensions as investigators continue to build their case.

The Gormans have said they believed their daughter would be safe and called Sheridan “the light of our lives.” Their demand for accountability lands in the middle of a broader campus reckoning. Loyola University Chicago President Mark C. Reed issued a statement on March 19 expressing profound sadness and saying the university was in close contact with law enforcement. The university also held a campus prayer service and sent out a safety alert.

Students have questioned whether the response matched the risk, especially for a shooting that happened off campus but close enough to unsettle the university community. Local officials noted there were no cameras on the pier, and they discussed possible increased security. That gap, along with complaints about emergency communication and off-campus safety measures, has sharpened scrutiny of how a university protects students in the spaces between campus property and the surrounding neighborhood.

For Loyola, the killing has become more than a criminal case. It has forced a harder review of where institutional responsibility begins, where public safety fell short, and whether a late-night walk to the lakefront should have ended in tragedy.