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A progressive Chicago lawmaker apologized Tuesday after facing backlash for suggesting the slain college student was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Last Thursday, Sheridan Gorman, 18, from Westchester County, New York, was shot and killed while walking with friends around 1:30 a.m. near a Chicago lake.
Alderwoman Maria Hadden sparked outrage on social media after she suggested in an interview with Fox 32 Chicago that the Loyola University Chicago student was in the wrong place at the wrong time and may have “scared” the person who shot and killed him.
The local Democrat’s comments were criticized as insensitive and prompted a response from Gorman’s family, who took issue with his comments.
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Chicago Alderwoman Maria Hadden has been slammed by the internet for her response to Sheridan Gorman’s murder. (End Wokeness via X/Sheridan G. Gorman via Instagram)
Hadden, who is a running mate of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, issued a statement Tuesday saying his interview on Fox 32 “has gone viral in the conservative media,” and that his comments were in response to a question comparing Gorman’s killing to a separate case in 2018.
“In an effort to understand the absurd situation, I said things that hurt other people,” he said. “My comments were not intended to blame the victim or to suggest that Sheridan should not have been out enjoying the park or that it was his fault that he was shot.
“In the interview, I tried my best to share what little information I had with our community as quickly as possible while helping to allay the fears people had about the shooting,” Hadden continued. “I sincerely apologize for any additional pain my comments may have caused.”
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Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman was murdered in Chicago on March 19, 2026. (Sheridan G. Gorman via Instagram))
He added, “The fact that some media outlets are deliberately creating noise to misunderstand my words during this tragedy is also unfortunate.”
Gorman’s family addressed Hadden’s comments in an interview with Fox 32, saying the slain college student “deserved the future that was stolen from him.”
“What happened to Sheridan cannot be summed up in the idea that someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is not an imaginary thing. This is the loss of a daughter. The loss of a sister. The loss of a future full of important events now that will never come. Our family is changed forever.”
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Sheridan Gorman, a native of New York, was reportedly a few months away from completing his freshman year at Loyola University Chicago in Illinois. (Sheridan G. Gorman via Instagram)
The family added: “We cannot accept a world where moments like this become something people have grown accustomed to. We cannot allow ourselves to be callous to violence. When we begin to accept these tragedies as inevitable, we are all vulnerable to them. Ignorance is not dangerous—allowing these moments to happen again.”
Jose Medina-Medina was arrested and charged with Gorman’s murder.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Medina is an illegal immigrant who entered the US during the Biden administration before being caught and released from the country.
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DHS said the 25-year-old Venezuelan man was previously arrested for shoplifting in Chicago.
Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
