ROGERS PARK — Rogers Park’s ward office will be closed for in-person business the rest of the week after the area’s alderwoman received “threats of violence” over her comments on the killing of Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman.
Ald. Maria Hadden (49th), whose ward covers Rogers Park and much of Loyola University’s campus, has been the subject of several conservative media stories heavily criticizing remarks she made during a local TV interview last week. Since then, the alderwoman said she, her family and office have been receiving “threats of violence,” “including racist, misogynistic, and homophobic language,” Hadden said in a statement Wednesday.
Sheridan Gorman, 18, was a first-year student at Loyola University Chicago. Credit: GoFundMe
Hadden was interviewed on Fox32’s “Chicago Live” program just hours after Gorman, an 18-year-old freshman at Loyola University, was shot and killed at Tobey Prinz Beach early Thursday in Rogers Park.
The shooting has garnered international attention and ignited impassioned political debate, as the alleged shooter, Jose Medina, is a Venezuelan migrant who came to the United States in 2023, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
During the “Chicago Live” interview, a reporter asked the alderwoman whether neighbors should be concerned about their safety or if this was “a targeted incident,” according to a recording of the full interview.
Hadden responded saying people in her ward go out to the beach and the pier all the time and Gorman and her friends “were out doing normal things people do in the neighborhood.”
“It sounds like this might have been a wrong-place-wrong-time, running into a person who had a gun,” Hadden said in the interview, citing what police had told her so far. “They might have startled this person at the end of the pier unintentionally. … We don’t believe there is a cause for broader community concern at this time.”
Hadden’s comments were blasted on social media and eventually became the subject of reporting from conservative outlets like Fox News and the New York Post, who accused her of blaming the victim and downplaying the tragedy based on her comments.
On Tuesday evening, Hadden made a statement addressing the backlash.
“My comments were never intended to blame the victim or imply that Sheridan should not have been out enjoying the park or that it was her fault that she was shot,” the alderwoman wrote. “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.
I sincerely apologize for any additional pain that my comments may have caused. The fact that some media outlets are intentionally creating sound bites to misconstrue my words during this tragedy is also unfortunate,” Hadden said.
Students enter the Madonna della Strada Chapel on the Loyola University Chicago campus on Thursday, March 19, 2026, for a prayer service honoring Sheridan Gorman. The 18-year-old freshman was fatally shot earlier that morning while walking with friends at nearby Tobey Prinz Beach. Credit: Victor Hilitski for Block Club Chicago
When reports of Gorman’s death were first reported, there was speculation in the neighborhood that this shooting was similar to a series of brazen killings that rocked the Rogers Park neighborhood in 2018, with the suspect coming to be known as the “Duck Walk Killer” because of their unique walking gait.
Hadden said in her Tuesday statement she was trying to clarify that neither she nor police believed Gorman’s death was related to the “Duck Walk Killer,” who “terrorized our community in 2018,” according to her statement. An arrest was never made in those cases.
After her comments were shared widely on social media and in the press, Hadden said her office has received an overwhelming number of phone calls and emails critical of her statement.
“The majority of these communications are from out-of-state individuals who are angry about my comments and Chicago’s sanctuary city status,” the alderwoman shared in a Wednesday newsletter to her constituents. “Our social media pages have also been inundated with negative reviews and hateful comments. The content of the phone messages and emails that my staff and I have been receiving is explicit and disturbing.”
In light of the threats and verbal abuse, Hadden said she and her ward office team are working remotely Wednesday and Thursday and the office will be closed Friday.
“My team and I are taking these precautions to ensure our safety and ability to maintain the level of service that you expect of us,” the alderwoman said.
Sheridan Gorman, 18, was a first-year student at Loyola University Chicago. Credit: Instagram
The decision also follows a protest that happened outside Hadden’s ward office Tuesday.
The protest was attended by members of Chicago Flips Red, a local political group that supports President Donald Trump. The group was met by counter protesters, who held anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement and anti-Trump signs.
A confrontation appears to have taken place between the two groups, according to video from the scene posted to Chicago Flips Red’s social media accounts.
The Chicago Police Department said one “simple assault” was reported during the protest, but a spokesperson declined to share more information since the report wasn’t finalized.
Hadden, who did not respond to a request for comment, characterized the event as an anti-immigrant, anti-sanctuary city protest that was attended by counter protesters. Police intervened to ensure both groups could express their First Amendment rights, the alderwoman said.
Hadden said the group has planned another protest outside her office Friday.
“We must respect the First Amendment rights of everyone, so if you encounter this group, do not engage in anything that could escalate into physical altercations,” she said in an email to constituents. “Though they may not represent the views and values of our community, we will always respect and uphold the civil liberties afforded to everyone in our nation by our Constitution.”
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