ICE arrests undocumented Illinois teacher wanted in connection with 2024 mass shooting

The Homeland Security Department said Monday authorities have arrested a former Illinois teacher, who is also an undocumented Venezuelan immigrant, in connection with a December 2024 mass shooting.

The announcement identifies the person arrested as 32-year-old Giovanna Mercedes Moreno Occhipinto. The department alleges she drove two gunmen involved in the Tren de Aragua shooting at a house party in Chicago that left three people dead and several others injured. The shooting happened on the night of Dec. 2, 2024. 

Chicago police found several weapons in Occhipinti’s car, and authorities allege she helped Tren de Aragua gang members Ricardo Granadillo Padilla and Edward Martinez Cermeno evade law enforcement officers following the incident.

The Chicago Police Department arrested Occhipinti on Dec. 5, 2025 on charges of unlawful use of weapons and weapon offense. However, Chicago's so-called sanctuary policies resulted in her being released without notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Chicago states on its official website of such policies: "Partnering with ICE would go against our mission to make Chicago the most immigrant friendly city in the country and turn ours into a community of fear for immigrants. Furthermore, enforcing immigration law would take away needed resources and time from the Chicago Police Department."

The Cook County State Attorney’s Office decided not to move forward with criminally prosecuting Occhipinti, so ICE's Homeland Security Investigations took “independent and decisive enforcement action,” the DHS says.

HSI Chicago’s Human Trafficking and Smuggling Group agents arrested Occhipinti the night of May 13, and she remains in custody at the Grayson County Detention Center in Leitchfield, Kentucky.

DHS told Fox News that Occhipinti taught at an unspecified school in Elgin, a Chicago suburb. State officials have declined to cooperate with federal authorities, refusing to disclose the school’s name to DHS, according to Fox News.

“Giovanna Mercedes Moreno Occhipinti’s actions were calculated and deliberate, leading to the loss of three lives,” said Matthew Scarpino, HSI Chicago special agent in charge, said.

Occhipinti entered the U.S. in October 2021 under the Visa Waiver Program, and remained in the U.S. illegally, as her visa expired Jan. 2, 2022.

Granadillo Padilla and Martinez Cermeno were both previously arrested and deported, like many of their associates were after the shooting.

Katherine Pugh is a reporter for Just the News. Follow her on X for more coverage.