Home U.S. Church LA’s ‘peacemaker’ Bishop David O’Connell found fatally shot in his home; death ruled a homicide

LA’s ‘peacemaker’ Bishop David O’Connell found fatally shot in his home; death ruled a homicide

by Pablo Kay
Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David G. O'Connell is pictured speaking with parishioners outside St. Frances X. Cabrini Church in Los Angeles July 19, 2015. According to local news reports, Los Angeles County sheriffs found him dead of a gunshot wound at his home Feb. 18, 2023, and his death has been ruled a homicide. An investigation was under way for a suspect and motive. A native of Ireland, he spent most of his four decades as a priest ministering in the inner city of Los Angeles. He was 69. Editors: This cutline has been updated to reflect new details about the bishop's death. (OSV News photo/CNS file, John Rueda, The Tidings)

LOS ANGELES (OSV News) — Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell, a native of Ireland who spent most of his four decades as a priest ministering in LA’s inner city, was shot and killed Feb. 18 in his Hacienda Heights home, a neighborhood east of Los Angeles. His death is being investigated as a homicide, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles early Feb. 19.

“We learned early this morning from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office that they have determined that the death of Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell yesterday was a homicide,” Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles said in a statement released Feb. 19. “We are deeply disturbed and saddened by this news.”

In a news release issued Feb. 19, the Sheriff’s department said that deputies had responded to a medical emergency on the 1500 block of Janlu Avenue in Hacienda Heights and found the bishop suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna wrote on Twitter Feb. 19 that he was grieving Bishop O’Connell’s death and his department “is committed to arresting those responsible for this horrible crime.”

For the full story, see your local Catholic news source.

Pablo Kay is editor of Angelus News, publication of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

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