Stefanie Dazio, The Associated Press
Posted Sunday February 19, 2023 2:32 PM EST
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Roman Catholic bishop in Southern California was shot dead just blocks from a church on Saturday, a murder of a longtime priest hailed as a “peacemaker” that has left the Los Angeles religious community stunned , the authorities said.
Detectives are investigating the death of Bishop David O’Connell as a homicide, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Authorities have not said if the bishop was targeted in the shooting. The sheriff’s department would not say how or where exactly his body was found. The shooter – or shooters – remain at large.
O’Connell, 69, was a priest for 45 years and was from Ireland, according to Angelus News, the archdiocese news agency. In 2015, Pope Francis appointed him one of several auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles – the largest in the country.
O’Connell worked in south Los Angeles for years, focusing on gang intervention, Angelus News reported. He later tried to broker peace between residents and law enforcement after the violent 1992 riot after a jury acquitted four white LA police officers of caning Rodney King, a black man.
O’Connell was found with a gunshot wound at Hacienda Heights around 1 p.m. Saturday. Sheriff’s deputies have been called to the area because of a medical emergency — just blocks from St. John Vianney Catholic Church, part of the Archdiocese of O’Connell.
Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene, the sheriff’s department said. The archdiocese said O’Connell lives in Hacienda Heights, but it’s not immediately clear if he was found at his home or elsewhere.
The sheriff’s department initially said Saturday only that homicide detectives had responded to “an investigation into gunfire” involving an adult male victim. Authorities did not identify the victim as O’Connell until Sunday morning.
The LA County Sheriff offered the agency his condolences, saying detectives are “committed to apprehending those responsible for this horrific crime.”
“He was a peacemaker and had a passion to serve those in need while improving our community,” Sheriff Robert Luna said on Twitter.
Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez initially said only that O’Connell, who served in the city for decades, “died unexpectedly,” without mentioning the violence. The archdiocese referred media inquiries to the sheriff’s department on Sunday.
“It’s a shock and I have no words to express my sadness,” Gomez said in his original statement Saturday, calling him “a good friend.”
“Bishop Dave was a man of deep prayer who loved Our Lady dearly,” he said. “He was a peacemaker with a heart for the poor and immigrants, and he had a passion for building a community where the sanctity and dignity of every human life is honored and protected.”
Gomez said Sunday the Archdiocese was “deeply disturbed and saddened” after hearing that O’Connell had been killed.
“Let us continue to pray for Bishop Dave and his family. And let us pray for law enforcement officers as they continue their investigation into this horrific crime,” Gomez said.
Hacienda Heights is an unincorporated community approximately 30 kilometers east of downtown Los Angeles.
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