Los Angeles (RNS) — Bishop David G. O’Connell, an auxiliary bishop in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Los Angeles, was found dead Saturday (Feb. 18) in his home in Hacienda Heights, a suburb in Los Angeles County, according to news reports.His body was discovered around 1 p.m. by first responders, with at least one gunshot wound “to his upper torso,” a L.A. County Sheriff’s Department official told local television news reporters, but no other details were released.
O’Connell, 69, is known to have ministered to those affected by gang violence and poverty, and he was regarded as a “peacemaker,” between rival gangs. The sheriff’s department did not rule out homicide, but said as of Saturday evening that the shooting was “suspicious.”
Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles in a statement Saturday that said he was saddened by O’Connell’s death, but only said O’Connell had died “unexpectedly.”
“It is a shock and I have no words to express my sadness,” Gomez said.
Known as “Bishop Dave,” O’Connell, a native of Ireland, had been episcopal vicar for the archdiocese’s San Gabriel Pastoral …
Los Angeles Bishop David O’Connell dies in shooting
