Catholic bishop shot to death near Los Angeles, officials say

A high-ranking clergyman in the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, known for having “a heart for the poor,” was shot to death Saturday, according to law enforcement and the archdiocese.

Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, 69, was killed about 1 p.m. local time on a residential street in Hacienda Heights, Calif., about 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

“We can only imagine how the community is suffering because of this senseless murder,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “Bishop O’Connell was a guiding light for so many, and his legacy will continue to live on through the community that he helped build.”

No one was in custody in the killing as of Sunday afternoon, and a motive was unclear.

Sheriff’s Deputy Lizette Falcon said there was no danger to the public. She declined to specify whether O’Connell was at a home when he was killed.

Archbishop of Los Angeles José H. Gomez said Sunday that his office was “deeply disturbed and saddened” by law enforcement’s determination that O’Connell’s death was a homicide.

O’Connell served in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for 45 years and was known as “a man of deep prayer,” Gomez said Saturday while announcing that O’Connell had died unexpectedly.

“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,” Gomez said in the statement. “He was also a good friend, and I will miss him greatly.”