Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, an Irish-born Catholic priest known as a “peacemaker” for his work within poor and immigrant communities in Los Angeles, was found shot to death in his home Saturday, KABC-7 in Los Angeles reports.
Police say evidence points to a homicide sometime Saturday morning. Police were summoned to the cleric’s house just before 1 a.m., where they found the 69-year-old man shot in the chest and unresponsive; he was later pronounced dead at the scene. It’s unclear when he was shot or who summoned the police, and police say they do not have a suspect.
O’Connell was the head of the Interdiocesan Southern California Immigration Task Force, which helped to coordinate assistance various dioceses and parishes were providing to migrants from Central America and Mexico coming into their areas.