Chicago alderwoman apologizes for 'wrong place at the wrong time' comment on slain student
A progressive Chicago lawmaker issued an apology Tuesday after facing backlash for suggesting a slain college student was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
Last Thursday, Sheridan Gorman, 18, of Westchester County, New York, was gunned down while taking a walk with friends around 1:30 a.m. along Chicago's lakefront.
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 that she may have "startled" the individual who shot and killed her.
The local Democrat's comments were slammed as insensitive and also prompted a response from Gorman’s family, who referenced her remarks.
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Hadden, a progressive ally of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, released a statement Tuesday saying her interview on Fox 32 had "gone viral on conservative media," and that her comments were in response to a question comparing Gorman's murder to a separate 2018 case.
"In an effort to make sense of a senseless situation, I said things that landed wrong with some people," she said. "My comments were never intended to blame the victim or to imply that Sheridan should not have been out enjoying the park or that it was her fault that she was shot.
"In the interview, I tried my best to share what limited information I had with our community as fast as possible while helping to address the fears people had about the shooting," Hadden continued. "I sincerely apologize for any additional pain that my comments may have caused."
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She added, "The fact that some media outlets are intentionally creating sound bites to misconstrue my words during this tragedy is also unfortunate."
Gorman’s family referenced Hadden’s remarks from the Fox 32 interview, saying the slain college student "deserved the future that was stolen from her."
"What happened to Sheridan cannot be reduced to the idea of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is not an abstraction. This is the loss of a daughter. The loss of a sister. The loss of a future filled with milestones that will now never come. Our family is forever changed."
The family added: "We cannot accept a world where moments like this become something people grow used to. We cannot allow ourselves to become desensitized to violence. When we begin to accept these tragedies as inevitable, we all become vulnerable to them. Apathy is not harmless—it allows these moments to repeat."
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 U.S. during the Biden administration before being apprehended and released into the country.
DHS said the 25-year-old Venezuelan national was previously arrested for shoplifting in Chicago.
Fox News Digital's Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.