Los Angeles bishop shot dead in Hacienda Heights

A Los Angeles County bishop known as a “peacemaker” was found dead of a gunshot wound in Hacienda Heights on Saturday, a law enforcement source said.

David O’Connell, who served as a priest and bishop in L.A. County for nearly half a century, was found dead in the 1500 block of Janlu Avenue in Hacienda Heights around 1 p.m., according to the source, sheriffs officials and a statement from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

“It is a shock and I have no words to express my sadness. As a priest and later a bishop here in Los Angeles for 45 years, Bishop Dave was a man of deep prayer who had a great love for our blessed mother,” Archbishop Jose Gomez said in a statement.

“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. He was also a good friend, and I will miss him greatly. I know we all will.”

Gomez said only that O’Connell had “passed away unexpectedly.”

In a brief statement, the sheriff’s department said it was investigating the shooting death of an adult male at 12:57 p.m. on Saturday. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff’s department, which offered no details about a possible suspect or motive. A spokeswoman declined to answer questions Saturday night.

O’Connell earned the title of bishop in 2015, according to the website for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

About a dozen people held candles and stood near the intersection of Janlu and Los Robles avenues around 9 p.m. Saturday and prayed the rosary next to police tape. Glendy Perez said she knew O’Connell from pro-life rallies in the area and described him as a “soft-spoken and loving” man.

Jonny Flores, a Rowland Heights resident who also knew O’Connell from rallies, said the bishop was always generous with his time, no matter how small a parishioner’s request might be.

“He didn’t hold back his words. He was well spoken,” Flores said. “He would take the time. He was very humble. He was never too busy.”

For 14 years, O’Connell had been pastor at St. Frances X. Cabrini in South Los Angeles, and became pastor of nearby Ascension, the Times reported in 2002. This meant overseeing not only two congregations of roughly 4,000 families each, but also two schools that between them serve about 500 pupils in kindergarten through eighth grade.

He was a passionate advocate for the community.

From the Times story: “The parishes are less than a mile apart, but there is a language and racial division — Cabrini is mostly African American, Ascension primarily Spanish-speaking Latino.

“Both neighborhoods are very poor and bogged down by issues of survival, and so are the duties of their priest. O’Connell spends a lot of time encouraging his parishioners to speak up for themselves — to fight for new stop signs and safer playgrounds, to demand that politicians keep their promises.”

After the 1992 insurrection, O’Connell was instrumental in trying to build trust between the LAPD and communities in South Los Angeles, according to the Catholic News Agency.

“Right away, we said that our churches were open for people, if they had taken stuff, to bring it back,” he said at the time.

The idea worked, he said.

“People brought things back, and we tried to give them to the stores which they had come from,” O’Connor said.