CHICAGO (WLS) — The suspect charged with murder in the shooting death of Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman in Rogers Park is now also facing a federal charge, officials announced Thursday.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Northern District of Illinois said Jose Medina is now charged with illegally possessing a firearm in Chicago.<\/p>\n
This is a breaking news report. The following is from a previous report.<\/strong><\/p>\n The suspect in the murder of Loyola University freshman Sheridan Gorman appeared virtually for a detention hearing last Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Police say Jose Medina, 25, approached Gorman, 18, and her group of friends last week at Tobey Prinz Beach by the pier in Rogers Park.<\/p>\n ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24\/7. Click here to watch<\/a><\/p>\n Investigators say Medina, dressed in all black with a mask, then pulled out a gun and shot into the group. Gorman, a New York native, was shot in the neck and died from her injuries<\/a>.<\/p>\n An arrest report says witnesses noticed Medina had a distinct walk. That, and surveillance video, helped police track him to a nearby apartment building, where he lives with his mother.<\/p>\n Medina’s mother told police he has a limp due to a previous gunshot wound that left him brain damaged and disabled.<\/p>\n He was the victim of an armed robbery in Colombia, a public defender said.<\/p>\n Police searched Medina’s home, where investigators say they found a gun, and its shell casings matched the ones found at the scene.<\/p>\n SEE ALSO |<\/strong> Loyola student murder leads to new friction point over state’s sanctuary policies<\/a><\/p>\n The Department of Homeland Security says Medina is an immigrant from Venezuela living in the U.S. without legal permission. DHS says he entered the country illegally in 2023 and was arrested for shoplifting in Chicago that year.<\/p>\n In court Friday, officials said Medina came to the U.S. to seek safety in 2023. They said he turned himself in at the border in Texas, was detained for months and asked to be deported to Colombia but was put on a bus and sent to Chicago.<\/p>\n It was one of the many buses that were sent in from Texas that year during federal immigration disputes.<\/p>\n A spokesperson from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office said in a statement, “The Texas Division of Emergency Management, which was tasked by the Governor to conduct the busing mission, thoroughly reviewed passenger logs and Jose Medina was not listed as a passenger. It is possible he was transported to Chicago by one of the various NGO’s or nonprofit agencies who were also busing migrants at the time.”<\/p>\n Court records also show that Medina never showed up to court for that retail theft charge. He is now facing first-degree murder and weapon charges.<\/p>\n Medina was not in court for his initial hearing earlier this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n The court was told that he was at the hospital for tuberculosis, which he contracted in a migrant shelter.<\/p>\n He appeared virtually Friday with an interpreter and was assigned a public defender, as he continues to be treated at a hospital.<\/p>\n Officials said there was no known connection between Medina and Gorman or her friends.<\/p>\n Medina’s defense asked that he remain in Cook County custody over concerns he may be deported somewhere he would not receive due process.<\/p>\n “If I had advocated for release, I am very concerned that would’ve happened. And I don’t want that to happen. Jose has the mentality of a child; he is missing a portion of his brain. He cannot read, cannot write,” Cook County public defender Julie Koehler said.<\/p>\n The judge did order him detained, pending trial.<\/p>\n Medina’s public defender called on elected officials to do more to avoid these tragedies.<\/p>\n “Stop talking about gun violence and do something about it because innocent people are dying. And then public defenders like myself have to clean up the mess of these politicians who do nothing,” Julie Kohlersaid.<\/p>\n Some of Gorman’s fellow students and friends were in court Friday. Her family appeared virtually.<\/p>\n An attorney for the family shared a statement saying the family still loves Loyola University and its community, adding in part “What happened to Sheridan was not a reflection of the Loyola community. It was the result of a failure outside of it.”<\/p>\n Private funeral services for Gorman are happening in New York on Saturday.<\/p>\n