18-Year-Old Loyola Student Fatally Shot Near Campus

An 18-year-old Loyola University Chicago student was fatally shot early Thursday morning while walking with friends near a beach in the Rogers Park neighborhood, authorities said, in an incident that police described as appearing random.

Sheridan Gorman, a freshman from Yorktown Heights, New York, was struck in the head around 1:30 a.m. near Tobey Prinz Beach, also known as Pratt Avenue Beach, in the 1000 block of West Pratt Boulevard, close to the university's Lake Shore Campus. According to Chicago police, Gorman was with a group of friends when a male suspect, wearing a face covering, approached on foot, pulled out a gun and fired in their direction before fleeing. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and no other injuries were reported.

Investigators believe Gorman was not the intended target and that she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, Alderwoman Maria Hadden said after speaking with police. The motive remains unclear, and as of Thursday evening, no arrests had been made or suspect description released. Detectives are pursuing leads possibly connected to other recent violent incidents in the area, a campus safety alert noted.