Suspect in Loyola student Sheridan Gorman killing found with jail shank: police
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A. Illegal immigrant from Venezuela The man accused of killing Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman in March was caught with a gun while in custody, police said.
Cook County Jail staff found a 6-inch handle in Jose Medina’s hand around 8 a.m. Thursday, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office said.
Jail officers searched the 26-year-old and found a sharpened piece of metal with a handle made of medical tape in his pants pocket, the sheriff’s office said.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office on Friday approved a new felony charge against Medina for possession of contraband in a penal institution.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ACCUSED OF KILLING CHICAGO COLLEGE STUDENT TO APPEAR IN COURT AFTER TUBERCULOSIS DELAY
The man accused of killing a Loyola University freshman in a March shooting in Rogers Park was found in jail with a gun, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office said. (Cook County Sheriff’s Office)
Medina has been in custody since March 23. He is accused of shooting and killing 18-year-old Gorman at Tobey Prinz Beach in Rogers Park on March 19.
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There is Medina did not admit his guilt to charges related to Gorman’s murder. The next hearing date is June 1.
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Sheridan Gorman was shot and killed around 1 a.m. on Thursday, March 19, while walking with friends near Tobey Prinz Beach, less than a mile from the Illinois campus. (via Sheridan G. Gorman on Instagram)
While Gorman was with friends at the Rogers Park pier, he looked around a lighthouse and saw Medina nearby.
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He walked up to his friends and said, “There’s a man behind the lighthouse,” prosecutors said. Medina then allegedly started chasing them.
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As Gorman and his friends fled, Medina shot him in the upper back, according to prosecutors. His friends continued running until they found a place to hide. When they returned to check on Gorman, he was unresponsive.
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In the arrest report obtained by Fox News Digital, it is stated that Medina was seen waiting for the elevator in the lobby of his apartment building without a mask after the armed attack. A civil engineer told police he recognized the suspect, who “was limping and walking very distinctly.”
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Venezuelan national Jose Medina was arrested on charges of theft and released before the alleged murder. (DHS)
Fox News Digital previously reported that Medina was captured at the southern border in 2023, marked as a flight risk and determined to have no valid asylum claim before being released to the United States that year under the Biden administration.
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Records show he did not have a valid U.S. address or ID and was unable to provide a verifiable point of contact.
Fox News Digital’s Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
