The chilling murder of college student Sheridan Gorman was the most avoidable tragedy.

And yet it has sparked the most shameful and callous reaction from politicians — revealing an almost pathological unwillingness from the left to put law-abiding Americans first.

Last week, Gorman, an 18-year-old Loyola University freshman, was gunned down on a Chicago beach during a late-night walk with her friends while looking for the northern lights.

The Westchester native was shot in the back — executed — by a masked madman whom she didn’t know.

“The kids were out doing normal things people do in the neighborhood,” Chicago Alderwoman Maria Hadden said about the killing, in a video posted to X.

This is the moment when Hadden should have simply shut her mouth. But she proceeded to relay the most twisted version of this slaying.

“And it sounds like this might have been a wrong-place, wrong-time, running into a person who had a gun. They might have startled this person at the end of the pier, unintentionally.”

You can hear jaws dropping.

If ever there was someone in the wrong place, it was the alleged murderer, Jose Medina-Medina. According to DHS, he is an illegal alien from Venezuela who (shocker) came in under President Joe Biden’s open borders in May 2023. That same year, he was picked up for shoplifting at Macy’s but never showed up for his court date.

Medina-Medina’s been an unworthy beneficiary of Biden’s welcome mat and blue-city sanctuary laws — both suicidal mechanisms for our free society.

Sheridan “was exactly where she should have been — close to campus, surrounded by friends, living her life,” her heartbroken family said in a statement, responding to Hadden’s insensitive remarks.

“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.”

And then there’s Hadden, who is also in the wrong place. After blaming an innocent victim, she shouldn’t be anywhere near a position of power or leadership.

Imagine viewing a big city like Chicago as a world where the sane people should beware of “startling” a beast like Medina-Medina. Hadden obviously believes he has no agency.

Neither should Chicago’s Mayor Brandon Johnson, who took nearly a week to even address the senseless murder. He offered condolences to the Gorman family but, when asked, didn’t want to address the topic of sanctuary cities.

On Monday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker expressed condolences — but then blasted the Trump administration for “politicizing heinous tragedies and instead focus on real solutions, like reinstating federal funds to prevent violence that support our public safety efforts.”

This is the same governor who still hasn’t acknowledged Illinois native Katie Abraham, who, in January 2025, was killed by an illegal immigrant who drunkenly hit her and took off. Her devastated father has been vocal about Pritzker’s silence on his daughter’s unnecessary death.

On Tuesday, Pritzker finally admitted there were “real failures” in our national immigration system, before pointing the finger back at Trump.

But city and state leadership’s priorities are clearly inverted: Criminals and illegals first, law-abiding taxpayers last.

In another era, when both sides could agree that law and order were important, shocking crimes like the murder of Gorman would have galvanized leaders of all stripes to come together and close obvious loopholes. They’d unite to find a common-sense solution.

But progressive left leaders won’t even identify the cancer, so it’s impossible to treat it effectively.

Just ask Medina-Medina. He got the message loud and clear from the hapless pols running Chicago and the state of Illinois: The laws do not apply to him. He could cut the line and come into this country. Even as a guest, he can steal from his hosts and still remain free to create havoc.

Medina-Medina is facing multiple charges, including first-degree murder, but he is currently hospitalized with tuberculosis.

Why is this guy in the United States again?

Of course, no celebrities will wear Gorman’s name on their lapels on red carpets. Neither Springsteen nor U2 will record songs about her life ending because of failed progressive policies.

Gorman did nothing to put herself in danger. Her family described her as “deeply loving” and “everybody’s cheerleader.” 

She was just a beautiful young girl experiencing the thrill of independence and the first few milestones of young adulthood. Now her family is planning her funeral.

And the cowardly lefty politicians still refuse to acknowledge how their insane policies are to blame.

They’d rather point fingers.