A high-ranking official in the L.A. Archdiocese has been shot to death, sheriff’s officials have confirmed. Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell was found dead Saturday afternoon.
Authorities said they found O’Connell suffering from a gunshot wound when they were called to an address in the 1500 block of Janlu Avenue in Hacienda Heights about 1 p.m. Saturday. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
In a news release Sunday about the case, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. said:
“This incident is being handled as a murder investigation. There is no additional information available at this time.”
What the L.A. Archdiocese is saying
Archbishop José Gomez, in a statement Sunday, said: “We are deeply disturbed and saddened by this news.”
Angelus, which reports on L.A.’s Catholic communities, said Gomez announced O’Connell’s death was a homicide during Sunday Mass at Our Lady of the Angeles Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles. The site also said O’Connell was found in his home.
On Saturday, Gomez called the death unexpected adding: “It is a shock and I have no words to express my sadness.”
He said this about O’Connell’s work:
“He was a peacemaker with a heart for the poor and the immigrant, and he had a passion for building a community where the sanctity and dignity of every human life was honored and protected.”
Born in Ireland and known locally as Bishop Dave, O’Connell served in L.A.’s archdiocese for 45 years.
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