David O’Connell, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, in a November 2021 picture. Julio Cortez (AP)
Los Angeles Police Department reported Monday that they have arrested a suspect in connection with the murder of David O’Connell, an auxiliary bishop in the city, which is home to the United States’ most populous archdiocese. The 69-year-old priest was found dead Saturday afternoon at his home in Hacienda Heights, an east-side neighborhood 30 kilometers from downtown Los Angeles. His body showed the gunshot wound, according to paramedics who went to the residence, property of the Catholic Church. Authorities have been investigating the death as a homicide since Sunday.
The details of the alleged murder were released in a trickle. The emergency teams told the local press that the religious had been found in his bed. His body bore a single gunshot wound located in the upper part of the torso. The locks on the house were not picked, which indicated to authorities that the crime was not a random crime.
A task force from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man this Monday morning. It was after a special operation conducted near the town of Torrance, 50 kilometers west of the murder scene. “The suspect is in custody,” the sheriff’s office tactical team said Monday, which pointed to the alleged perpetrator of the incidents barricaded himself at home. A police source has confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that the detainee is a man who was involved with a woman who worked at the O’Connell residence.
Pope Francis appointed O’Connell auxiliary bishop in the largest archdiocese in the United States in 2015. The office was the crowning glory after 45 years as a priest. Originally from County Cork, Ireland, the nun worked for many years in south Los Angeles, where mainly Hispanic immigrants live. The region has suffered from the presence of several gangs for decades. His work focused on strengthening the spiritual life of many people trying to break out of the ranks of criminal groups.
His deep roots in the Latino and Central American community made him a natural interlocutor between gang members and officials, especially the police. These efforts earned him the nickname The Peacemaker, a task particularly notable after 1992, when the city was engulfed by race riots that began after a jury acquitted white police officers who brutally beat Rodney King.
After that, O’Connell turned his work to the San Gabriel Valley, a region east of Los Angeles, where he helped rebuild a burned community. In addition, he had pastoral experience in the cities of Downey, Long Beach, and Pico Rivera, all of which are metropolitan areas.
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“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news,” said Jose Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles, on Sunday. The archdiocese official released a statement yesterday afternoon, hours after authorities reported that O’Connell’s death was in the hands of homicide detectives. “Pray for law enforcement as they continue their investigation into this horrific crime,” Gomez added.
On Saturday, the Archbishop highlighted O’Connell’s great heart for the “poor and immigrants”. “I had a passion for building a community that honors and protects the dignity and sacredness of human life,” said Gomez, who was born in Monterrey, Mexico. The death of the auxiliary bishop prompted a dozen faithful who knew O’Connell to pay tribute to him at the intersection of Janlu and Los Robles streets, the intersection where the residence of a crime that shook the nation is located: the Angelina catholic community.
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