Multiple law enforcement sources say a man wanted in connection with the murder of Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell in Hacienda Heights was arrested early Monday morning in an operation led by the office of the special application from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, sources confirmed to NBC4 I.-Team.
The man was identified by detectives early in the investigation through unidentified technical means, the sources said, and was located and taken into custody without incident.
The man’s name was not immediately released.
The 69-year-old auxiliary bishop was found dead in a bedroom at a residence on the 1500 block of Janlu Avenue around 1 p.m., said Michael Modica, a lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Industry sheriff’s deputies were responding to an emergency medical call when they found O’Connell, who appeared to have been shot in the upper torso.
Los Angeles Archbishop José Gómez released a statement after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Information Office determined the incident was a homicide. He said in part:
“We learned early this morning from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office that they have determined the death of Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell to be a homicide. We are deeply disturbed and saddened by this news.
O’Connell was born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1953, and was named auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles by Pope Francis in 2015, according to the archdiocese. He served as a priest and bishop in Los Angeles County for over 45 years.
O’Connell served as chair of the Southern California Interdiocesan Immigration Task Force, as well as chair of the Subcommittee on Human Development Campaign for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“He was a peacemaker with a heart for the poor and immigrants, and he had a passion for creating a community in which the sanctity of every human life was honored and protected,” the Archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose H. Gomez.