24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Its been a great privilege, a great blessing to be given these parishes all these years, to be pastor all these years, he added. Two . In recent years he also spearheaded Catholic efforts in the region to work with immigrant children and families from Central America. LOS ANGELES -- A man arrested Monday in the weekend killing of a Catholic bishop that shocked Los Angeles religious and immigrant communities is the husband of the victim's housekeeper and had done work at his home, authorities said. Bishop Barron told The New York Times that Bishop OConnell cared especially for those affected by social and racial injustice and dedicated the majority of his priesthood to South Central Los Angeles. The man in custody has not yet been identified by law enforcement, but the arrest is tied to the. The sheriff said detectives first linked Medina to the crime after finding surveillance video that showed his SUV in the driveway of O'Connell's home at the time of the killing. In July 2015, Bishop OConnell told the Archdiocese of Los Angeles outlet Angelus that working as a South Central LA pastor had been the great joy of his life. SAN RAMON, CA Police activity Wednesday in a parking lot at Bishop Drive and Executive Parkway was due to a suicide, police have confirmed. He is set to be arraigned on February 22, 2023, in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Authorities have not said whether the bishop was targeted in the shooting or if his religion was a factor in the killing. Luna said Medina is 65; however, jail records show the suspect as 61. Both neighborhoods are very poor and bogged down by issues of survival, and so are the duties of their priest, the Times reported. About 50 people prayed and sang in a vigil Sunday afternoon near part of the neighborhood surrounded by crime scene tape. "Although I personally did not know the bishop, I cannot tell you how many phone calls Ive received over the last 48 hours of people who have worked with him in different capacities," Luna said. The people have touched my heart the way they are sincere.. OConnell was a fixture of the Los Angeles Catholic community and served in the area for more than four decades. Learn more about Friends of the NewsHour. And let us pray for law enforcement officials as they continue their investigation into this terrible crime., In an earlier statement, Gmez described OConnell as 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. LOS ANGELES A Catholic bishop in Southern California was shot and killed Saturday just blocks from a church, a slaying of a longtime priest hailed as a "peacemaker" that's stunned the Los. Bishop David O'Connell was found in the room of a home with a gunshot wound to the upper torso. Carlos Medina, 65, the husband of O'Connell's housekeeper, was arrested on Monday morning for the murder of the. She grew up in Nogales, Ariz. L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna comforts Los Angeles Archbishop Jos H. Gmez during a news conference regarding the slain Auxiliary Bishop David G. OConnell, whom Gmez called a good friend of the city. All rights reserved. Gabriela Gil, who first met OConnell when she was pregnant with her youngest child, was among those who prayed outside OConnells home. Bishop Barron told the paper that Bishop OConnell was the kind of person that, when he walked in the room, everyone felt better. The firearms will be tested by the polices crime lab to verify if they were used in the murder. James Queally writes about crime and policing in Southern California, where he currently covers Los Angeles Countys criminal courts and the district attorneys office. Detectives found two firearms in Medinas home, as well as other evidence possibly linking Medina to the crime, Luna said. O'Connell, a Roman Catholic bishop in Southern California was shot and killed Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, just blocks from a church, a slaying that's stunned the Los Angeles religious community, authorities said. Carlos Medina is accused of fatally shooting Los Angeles Bishop David O'Connell in his Hacienda Heights home Saturday. My heart grieves after learning of the murder, he said on social media. The shooting is being. The former vice president has become the Democratic front-runner with primary victories across the country. She joined the paper in 2012 and has written about criminal justice, immigration and gentrification. By clicking submit, you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions & Privacy Policy. Also pray for law enforcement officials as they continue the investigation.. Glendy Perez said she knew OConnell from antiabortion rallies in the area and described him as a soft-spoken and loving man. Janice Hahn, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said O'Connell was a longtime friend who she first met while on the LA City Council. He served as a pastor at several parishes before Pope Francis appointed him the citys auxiliary bishop on 21 June 2015. The former mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti described OConnell as a longtime peacemaker and fighter for justice in a tweet on Sunday. Cunnane was on an oxygen machine at the time and had a terrible taste in his mouth, he recalled, so OConnell almost always brought him a kombucha drink when he visited. They feel weve abandoned them. "When he was interviewed he spoke, he said several different reasons" for wanting to kill O'Connell, Modica told reporters. Bishop, CA police have confirmed that a woman is in custody for a shooting Monday night, January 6, 2020, that left one person dead. Auxiliary Bishop David O'Connell, 69, was fatally shot Saturday in the bedroom of his home in Hacienda Heights, an unincorporated community about 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of downtown Los. IE 11 is not supported. O'Connell was found dead in Hacienda Heights, Calif., on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, of a gunshot wound, according to the Los Angeles Times. Associated Press writer Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles contributed to this report. The shooting. Peter Dreier, a professor of urban politics at Occidental College and author of The Next Los Angeles: The Struggle for a Livable City, remembered OConnell as a progressive community organizer who put his personal charm to work for the poor and disenfranchised. Rodriguez reported from San Francisco. O'Connell was found shot just before 1 p.m. Saturday at a home in the 1500 block of Janlu Avenue, near Turnbull Canyon Road. Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies guard the entrance to the street of Bishop David O'Connell's home in Hacienda Heights, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023. The violence was the latest to rock religious leaders in Los Angeles. Ive never ever felt more understood by anyone in this world, she said. OConnell worked in South Los Angeles for years and focused on gang intervention, Angelus News reported. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/watch-live-authorities-hold-briefing-after-arrest-of-suspect-in-killing-of-bishop-in-california, Catholic bishops 26-year prison sentence in Nicaragua draws concern from Pope, California shooting leaves 3 dead, 4 wounded in upscale LA neighborhood, California mourns after 3rd mass shooting in 8 days. Several members of law enforcement said no signs of forced entry has been found and that the killing isnt thought to be random, the paper reported. O'Connell was found fatally shot multiple times in his suburban Los Angeles home in Hacienda Heights on Saturday. 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. The incident unfolded on July 24 at the Chevron gas station in Bishop off US Highway 395 at approximately 2am, police said. Luna said the bishop was found in his bedroom with at least one gunshot wound to the upper body. He said no firearms were recovered at the scene, and there was no sign of forced entry. The Diocese of Cork and Ross in Ireland,where O'Connell was born, was shocked by the priest's death. The 69-year-old victim was found dead at the scene of the crime on Janlu Avenue in . A man wanted in connection with the weekend murder of a longtime Los Angeles bishop was arrested early Monday, sources told the NBC4 I-Team. David K. Li is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital. I came to know him because of his passion in helping pass immigration reform.. The Bishop Police Department received multiple 911 calls regarding a shooting involving several people at the Shell Gas Station on Wye Road in Bishop, CA. The sheriff said detectives first linked Medina to the crime after finding surveillance video that showed his SUV in the driveway of O'Connell's home at the time of the killing. It was a great way to finish the season. Medina was charged with one count of murder and a special allegation that he personally used a firearm. He was very humble. OConnell served as founder and chairman of the interdiocesan SoCal Immigration Task Force, helping scores of children who entered the United States without adult companions. David O'Connell, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, was fatally shot in the incident in Hacienda Heights, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. Archbishop Gomez said on Saturday that Bishop OConnell spent 45 years in Los Angeles as a priest and bishop. He lived alone in a home owned by the archdiocese. People brought things back, and we tried to give them to the stores which they had come from.. The archdiocese said O'Connell lived in Hacienda Heights an unincorporated community about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. On Monday morning, the Special Enforcement Bureau within the Sheriffs department tweeted that a SWAT operation for an armed, barricaded suspect in Torrance has concluded. O'Connell was found in Hacienda Heights around 1 p.m. Saturday with a gunshot wound. Los Angeles police have arrested a suspect in connection with the shooting death of Catholic Bishop David O'Connell, law enforcement sources told Fox News. / CBS/AP. He later sought to broker peace between residents and law enforcement following the violent 1992 uprising after a jury acquitted four white LA police officers in the beating of Rodney King, a Black man. A former Utah city mayor and one-time bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will likely spend the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced . The biggest advantage of this area is the vast amounts of public lands. Gabriela Gil, who first met O'Connell when she was pregnant with her youngest child, was among those who prayed outside O'Connell's home. A deacon found the body but thought O'Connell had died of natural causes, Gascnsaid. He was made an auxiliary bishop in 2015, according to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Mourners gathered outside OConnells home over the weekend, laying candles and flowers at the intersection in front of his residence. Detectives are investigating the death of Bishop O'Connell as a homicide, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. A housekeeper's husband was arrested near Los Angeles on Monday in connection with the fatal shooting of a Catholic bishop, who might've been killed over a financial beef, officials said. 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.. Not just for unaccompanied minors but for all our children. Combined, these field offices manage slightly more than two million acres of your public lands. For me, it really is a labor of love because this is, I think, what our schools and parishes are all about, he said in 2019, according to Angelus. Sheriff's deputies were called to the area just blocks from the St. John Vianney Catholic Church, which is part of O'Connell's archdiocese on a report of a medical emergency. Watch on. In a statement, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said Bishop OConnell was an active member of our Conference and a champion for the poor and marginalized. Detectives. 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Luna said Medinas wife was cooperating with the investigation. Homicide Bureau Detective Michael Modica said on Sunday the investigation is still ongoing. Monsignor Jarlath Cunnane speaks during the funeral Mass for Bishop David O'Connell on Friday, March 3, 2023, in Los Angeles. A Catholic bishop in southern California who was hailed as a "peacemaker" was shot and killed on Saturday blocks away from a church, stunning the Los Angeles religious community. Carlos Medina, 65, was arrested Monday morning after a . The Diocese of Cork and Ross in Ireland, where OConnell was born, was shocked by the killling. When officers arrived on the scene, they discovered an adult male on the ground in the parking lot with multiple gunshots wounds. 6. A SWAT team arrested Carlos Medina, the husband of O'Connell's housekeeper, at their home in Torrance, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) southwest of Hacienda Heights, Luna said. He was a good priest and a good bishop and a man of peace and were very sad to lose him, added Gomez, his voice breaking. Auxiliary Bishop David OConnell, 69, was fatally shot Saturday in the bedroom of his home in Hacienda Heights, an unincorporated community about 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. Pope Francis had named him one of several auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles the largest in the country in 2015. The violence was the latest to rock religious leaders in Los Angeles. This is, I think, what our schools and parishes are all about. Not all U.S. presidents are missed once they leave the White House. A mother of seven, Gil would talk to O'Connell about her sons and daughters and her faith over the years. Bishop O'Connell was found dead of at least one gunshot wound to his upper torso in his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Hacienda Heights on the afternoon of Feb. 18. Check your tires and tank up before you leave. The man accused of fatally shooting a popular Southern California bishop said the slain priest owed him money, but investigators rejected the claim Wednesday. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Olga R. Rodriguez, Associated Press Carlos Medina, 61, was formally charged with murder in the death of Bishop David OConnell, 69, and could face 35 years to life in prison, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascnsaid. They bonded over shared interests both studied English while at university and Cunnane quickly came to appreciate OConnells ability to deliver the perfect joke or quick-witted comment in almost any situation. Andrew Blankstein is an investigative reporterfor NBC News. OMahony said it was a time of heartbreak, shock and tears for those who had known the bishop. 1999-2023 United Reporting Publishing Corporation, Man Charged with Murder in Fatal Shooting of Los Angeles Bishop, Insurance agent takes over $65,000 from small business clients, DNA Match Helps Solve 1977 South LA Rape, Murder, Nine Charged For A Skid Row Large-Scale Voter-Fraud Scheme, Parents Plead No Contest in the Death of Their 5-Month-Old Baby Boy, LASD Neutralizes Threat of Man Dousing Business with Gasoline, 26-Count Grand Jury Indictment for Man Threatening 10 People with Mutilation, Rape, and Bodily Harm. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. A picture of Bishop David OConnell is honored at the St. Francis X. Cabrini Parish in Los Angeles Sunday. He was never too busy.. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) . "But the sheriff's department responded very quickly, and then the paramedics came in, and it became obvious that it was not a natural death, that it was a crime," he said. LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said on Sunday that the bishop was a peacemaker with a passion for serving those in need while improving our community. Hecovers the Western U.S., specializing in crime, courts and homeland security. "And none of them made any sense to the investigators.