Murder of Bishop David O’Connell: 5 quick facts you need to know

Facebook/David O’Connell

Bishop David O’Connell.

David O’Connell was an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles who was found dead in a California home on February 18, 2023. said the Archbishop of Los Angeles.

Archbishop of Los Angeles Jose Gomez wrote in a statement that O’Connell’s death will be treated as murder.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Investigators now believe the death of LA Archdiocese Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell was murder. Suicide was ruled out overnight after O’Connell was found dead in a home following an emergency medical call Saturday afternoon,” ABC News correspondent Alex Stone said tweeted.

The suspect or suspects are not publicly known.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Bishop David O’Connell was shot dead, sheriff’s officers say

According to a press release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, homicide investigators responded to a fatal shooting at 12:57 p.m. on Saturday, February 18, 2023 at the 1500 block of Janlu Avenue in Hacienda Heights, California.

The victim was described in the press release as an “adult male” and the suspect as “unknown.”

“Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Detectives are responding to a murder investigation that took place at approximately 12:57 p.m. on February 18, 2023 at the 1500 block of Janlu Avenue, Hacienda Heights,” the release said.

“The victim was pronounced dead at the scene,” the press release said, adding, “Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Homicide Office at (323) 890-5500 .”

According to the Whitter Daily News, Los Angleles County Sheriff’s Homicide Detective Michael Modica told reporters that the deputies “received a call reporting that a person was not breathing and bleeding at a home on Janlu Avenue where they were talking to a person in a room.” discovered who apparently had a gunshot wound to the torso”. The news site reported that the man found in the home was O’Connell.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department later tweeted that “Bishop O’Connell was a guiding light to so many and his legacy will live on.”

“You are not alone in your grief and this @lasdhq is here to support you. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and we are working tirelessly to find those responsible for his death,” the sheriff’s department tweeted.

2. Bishop David O’Connell, who received degrees in philosophy and English literature from University College Dublin, has served as a pastor in numerous Californian congregations, according to a biography

After a biography According to the LA Catholics website, Most Venerable David G. O’Connell was “the Episcopal Vicar of the San Gabriel Pastoral Region, one of the five Pastoral Regions in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. In 2015 he was appointed Titular Bishop of Cell Ausaille and Auxiliary Bishop.”

O’Connell “received a BA in Philosophy and English Literature from University College Dublin in 1975, a Bachelor of Divinity from Maynooth College in 1977 and a Master of Spirituality from Mount St Mary’s College in 1987,” the biography reads.

“Since his ordination he has served as associate pastor at St. Raymond in Downey, St. Maria Goretti in Long Beach and St. Hillary in Pico Rivera and then as pastor of St. Frances X. Cabrini, Ascension Catholic Church, St. Eugene and St. Michael Parishes,” it says.

“He also served as a member of the Priest Pension Board and is currently a member of the Together in Mission Board as well as the Archdiocese Finance Council and continues to be a long-time member of the Priests Council. He is a knight of Peter Claver,” reads the bio.

3. The Archbishop says the Archdiocese is “disturbed and saddened” by the news that the death will be treated as murder

Gomez, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, wrote on February 19, 2023: opinion“We were informed earlier this morning by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office that they have determined that the death of Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell yesterday was a homicide. We are deeply troubled and saddened by this news.”

Gomez said: “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.”

He added, “We ask Our Blessed Mother Mary to intercede and be a mother to us all at this moment of sadness and pain.”

4. David O’Connell, who had family in Ireland, was remembered as “a peacemaker with a heart for the poor and for the immigrants”.

In a previous statement On Saturday, February 18, 2023, Gomez wrote that he was “very sad to announce this afternoon that our beloved Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell passed away unexpectedly. It’s a shock and I have no words to express my sadness.”

“A priest and later bishop here in Los Angeles for 45 years, Bishop Dave was a man of deep prayer who loved Our Lady dearly,” he wrote in the statement. “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.”

According to the Archbishop, O’Connell “was also a good friend and I will miss him dearly. I know we all will. Please pray with me for Bishop Dave and his family in Ireland. May Our Lady of Guadalupe wrap him in the mantle of her love and may the angels take him to paradise and may he rest in peace.”

Janice Hahn, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, tweeted, “I was very saddened to learn of Bishop O’Connell’s death. He was a longtime friend. I was fortunate to work with him during my time on the City Council and again as a Supervisor. I join Archbishop Gomez and the people of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in mourning his loss.”

5. David O’Connell was remembered as kind, approachable and “incredibly generous with his time”.

“I was devastated when I heard that,” said Donna Marie, a resident and member of St. John Vianney Church in Hacienda Heights. to the Whittier Daily News. “Everyone is pretty shocked right now because that’s not happening here.”

According to the Daily News, Marie O’Connell was described as a “good hearted man known for a thick Irish accent and great sense of humor” whose masses were well attended.

Father Albert Avenido of Sacred Heart Church in Covina held a special “memorial service” on Janlu Avenue after the death, according to the Daily News, which quoted Avenido as saying, “It’s a complete shock.”

He described O’Connell to the Daily News as “a very approachable and kind bishop and incredibly generous with his time.”

O’Connell had a public Facebook page. His top post was a Bishop O’Connell: Memorial Massmarking CA 50 Years Legal Abortion, but it dates from 2017.

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