News Tries
Olga R. Rodriguez and Damian Dovergnes, The Related Press
Posted on Monday February 20, 2023 at 4:08 PM EST
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A suspect has been arrested in the murder of a Catholic bishop who was fatally shot over the weekend in Southern California in a crime that shocked Los Angeles’ non secular and immigrant communities. The tax was placed on maintain, officers stated on Monday.
Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff Lizette Falcon stated the man arrested in reference to the murder of Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell was discovered at his house with a gunshot wound and pronounced lifeless at the scene. was given.
Sheriff Robert Luna was scheduled to supply particulars at a information convention at 3 p.m. Pacific Time.
O’Connell, 69, was killed in Hacienda Heights, an unincorporated group about 30 kilometers east of downtown Los Angeles, simply a few blocks from St. John Vianney Catholic Church, half of his archdiocese.
O’Connell was shot at round 1 a.m. Saturday. Sheriff’s deputies had been known as to the space to report a medical emergency. Authorities haven’t stated whether or not the bishop was attacked or if his faith could have been a issue.
For 45 years, Pastor O’Connell was from Eire, in line with Angelus Information, the information company of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, the nation’s largest. In 2015, Pope Francis appointed him one of a number of auxiliary bishops of the archdiocese.
Angelus Information reported that O’Connell labored in South Los Angeles for years, specializing in gang intervention. He later tried to mediate between residents and regulation enforcement after the violent riots of 1992, when a jury acquitted 4 white LA law enforcement officials of Canning, a black man, Rodney King.
Almost 20 years later, O’Connell introduced the San Gabriel Valley group collectively to rebuild the mission that had been destroyed by the arson assault. Lately he has additionally led Catholic efforts in the area to work with migrant kids and households from Central America.
Sheriff Luna known as O’Connell a peacemaker and expressed his condolences to the company.
Sheriff Robert Luna stated on Twitter, “He was a peacemaker and had a passion for serving those in need while improving our community.”
Neighbors and parishioners left flowers and candles and prayed a rosary subsequent to police tape in Hacienda Heights on Sunday.
Gabriella Gill, who first met O’Connell when she was pregnant along with her youngest little one, was amongst these praying outdoors O’Connell’s house.
She stated, “I have never felt so understood by anyone in this world.”
The Diocese of Cork and Ross in Eire, the place O’Connell was born, was shocked by the priest’s loss of life. Bishop Fintan Gavin stated in a assertion that via frequent visits to Eire, O’Connell “has always maintained his links with family and friends in Cork”.
The violence was the newest to awaken non secular leaders in Los Angeles. Final week two Jewish males had been shot and wounded by a gunman who authorities say was concentrating on them for their beliefs. Suspect Jaime Tran has been charged with federal hate crimes.
Rodriguez reported from San Francisco. Related Press author Stephanie Dazio in Los Angeles contributed to this report.