California bishop found dead of gunshot wound
A Roman Catholic bishop in Southern California was found dead Saturday of a gunshot wound, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Bishop David O’Connell was found in Hacienda Heights around 1 p.m. Saturday, Deputy Lizette Falcon of the sheriff’s department confirmed Sunday.
Homicide detectives responded to “a shooting death investigation” with a male adult victim, authorities said. The sheriff’s department did not identify the victim as O’Connell until Sunday morning.
O’Connell was pronounced dead at the scene, a neighborhood lined with ranch-style homes. It was not immediately clear how or where his body was discovered.
Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez only said O’Connell, who served in the city for 45 years as a priest and later a bishop, “passed away unexpectedly” without mentioning the violence.
“It is a shock and I have no words to express my sadness,” Gomez said in a statement, calling him “a good friend.”
“Bishop Dave was a man of deep prayer who had a great love for Our Blessed Mother,” he said. “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.”
Spokespeople for the archdiocese did not respond to requests for comment Sunday.
Hacienda Heights is an unincorporated community about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.