Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell, a native of Ireland who spent most of his four decades as a priest ministering in L.A.’s inner city, has died. He was 69.
According to local news reports, he was fatally shot Feb. 18, 2023. Local news reports said Los Angeles Country sheriffs arrived at 1 p.m. to the bishop’s home and found him dead of a gunshot wound to his upper torso. An investigation was under way for a suspect and motive.
“I am very sad this afternoon to report that our beloved Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell has passed away unexpectedly,” said Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles in a statement Feb. 18. “It is a shock and I have no words to express my sadness.”
“Bishop Dave,” as he was known, was episcopal vicar for the archdiocese’s San Gabriel Pastoral Region since 2015, when Pope Francis named him an auxiliary bishop.
In his statement,…
