Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson seemed to place the blame on others when he was asked on Tuesday whether he would like to apologize to the family of a college student police say was killed by an illegal immigrant.
Sheridan Gorman, 18, a freshman at Loyola University, was fatally gunned down in the early morning hours on Thursday while walking with friends near the pier at Loyola Beach.
She was struck in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, police have said.
José Medina-Medina, a 25-year-old Venezuelan man who illegally entered the country in May 2023, is now facing felony charges of first-degree murder and aggravated use of a firearm for Gorman's death.
The Department of Homeland Security has also filed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest detainer, hoping to place Medina-Medina in their custody so he could be deported.
Johnson addressed the tragic shooting for the first time at a news conference on Tuesday, when he was asked whether he would apologize for the city's lax immigration policies.
'I believe that we're all grieving the loss of Sheridan and other folks who have lost their lives because of senseless violence,' he replied, sidestepping the question.
The mayor then seemed to blame a predecessor for the city's sanctuary laws.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson seemed to place the blame on others when he was asked on Tuesday about the death of Sheridan Gorman
The 18-year-old college freshman (left) was fatally gunned down on Thursday morning while walking with her friends near the pier at Loyola Beach. José Medina-Medina, a 25-year-old Venezuelan man who illegally entered the country in May 2023, is now facing felony charges of first-degree murder and aggravated use of a firearm for Gorman's death
He noted that Chicago's Welcoming City Ordinance, which prohibits police from asking about immigration status, was originally 'passed 40 years ago by the first black mayor in the history of Chicago.'
Johnson also hit out at President Donald Trump, who said on Monday that Gorman's shooting was 'devastating.'
'These people were let in by Biden,' the president noted. 'We're getting them out. We're getting them out fast. That's why ICE is so important. They're doing such a good job.'
But Johnson claimed Trump 'refuses to be held accountable' for his actions, which the Chicago mayor said has made cities across the country unsafe.
'He points the finger at everything and everyone else versus doing some real self-reflection on what his responsibility is,' Johnson claimed.
He then went on to argue that the 'illegal weapons that are being trafficked by bordering states that voted for Donald Trump' are the 'bigger threat to public safety.
'If there is anything to address in this country that's illegal, it's everything about the Trump administration,' the mayor said.
'If the president was serious about really creating safe communities, he would not have taken $8 million from cities across the America that were designed to reduce violence.'
Johnson also argued that Trump has not taken the illegal immigration issue seriously since he has not passed 'comprehensive immigration reform.'
Gorman was struck in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene
Her family has said they are upset about the policies that allowed Medina-Medina to remain in the country. Sheridan is pictured with her mother Jessica Gorman
Medina-Medina had been apprehended by US Border Patrol on May 9, 2023, but was released into the United States, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Just over a month later, on June 19, 2023, he was arrested in Chicago for allegedly shoplifting $132 worth of merchandise from a Macy's and was once again released.
Court records show he failed to appear for subsequent hearings, leading a judge to issue a warrant for his arrest. He was never apprehended on that warrant.
Gorman's family has since said they are upset about the policies that have allowed Medina-Medina to remain in the country.
'We are gravely disappointed by the policies and failures that allowed this individual to remain in a position to commit this crime,' the family said in a statement to Fox News.
'When systems fail - whether through release decisions, lack of coordination, or unwillingness to act - the consequences are not abstract. They are real. And in our case, they are permanent.'
The family described Gorman as a young woman who 'lived her faith with kindness, compassion, and joy' and who 'loved her family and friends deeply.'
Sheridan Gorman, second from right, is pictured smiling in happier times with her friends in Florida last summer. The young woman was murdered on the street in the senseless killing
It now remains unclear why Medina-Medina may have opened fire on Gorman, but prosecutors have alleged he was hiding near the pier where Gorman and her friends were walking that morning, ABC 7 reports.
Surveillance footage from multiple cameras then caught the suspect wearing black clothing, a black mask and walking with a 'distinct limp and slow gait' from the scene of the shooting to his apartment building.
There, he was allegedly caught on surveillance footage without a mask on while waiting for an elevator.
Those images were then sent to a police database and US Customs and Border Protection identified the suspect as Medina-Medina.
He was taken into custody on Friday at his apartment building in Rogers Park, where authorities allegedly found the clothing he was said to be wearing during the shooting and a .40-caliber handgun that matched shell casings found at the scene.
Medina-Medina is now due to appear in court on Friday for a pretrial detention hearing, after his scheduled hearing on Monday was postponed while he remains in the hospital, where he is being treated for tuberculosis.
