Suspect arrested in investigation into murder of Cork-born bishop in Los Angeles

Police investigating the murder of Cork-born Bishop David O’Connell in Los Angeles at the weekend have arrested a suspect for questioning about the killing, according to media reports in the United States.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that a man was arrested in Torrance which is part of the South Bay area of the Los Angeles metropolitan district.

The man, who was armed, was arrested by members of the LA County Sheriff’s Office SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team at around 9am local time in a carefully planned operation after he barricaded himself into a house at Kenwood Avenue in West Carson near Torrance.

The LA County Sheriff’s Office did not say that the arrest was related to the murder of Bishop O’Connell but locals on Kenwood Avenue said that police officers told them that the arrested man was the suspect in Bishop O’Connell’s murder.

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It is understood that the SWAT team arrived at the scene around midnight on Sunday night, but the suspect refused to come out the house. A stand-off lasted for nine hours until the suspect, who is understood to be in his 50s, finally emerged at around 9am and was arrested.

According to the newspaper, Bishop O’Connell was found dead in the single story house where he lived alone and there were no signs of forced entry to the property.

The Los Angeles County Sherrif’s Department confirmed on Sunday that investigators were treating the death of Bishop O’Connell as murder.

It said, in a statement, the shooting was reported at approximately 12.57pm on Saturday.

“Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide investigators are investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting death of Bishop David O’Connell. The incident was reported Saturday, February 18, 2023, at approximately 12:57 pm, on the 1500 block of Janlu Avenue, Hacienda Heights.

“Industry Sheriff’s Station deputies responded to the location regarding a medical emergency call. When they arrived, they discovered a male adult suffering from a gunshot wound. Paramedics arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene. This incident is being handled as a murder investigation”.

It appealed to anyone with any information about the killing to contact investigators the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau.

News of Bishop O’Connell’s murder has shocked people in his home parish of Glounthaune near Glanmire on the eastern outskirts of Cork city.

Bishop O’Connell was the middle son of five children born to David and Joan O’Connell from Brooklodge in Glounthaune and was predeceased by his parents and by his siblings, Liam, Don and Geraldine and is survived by his brother Kieran who still lives in the area.

The bishop attended Glounthaune National School before obtaining his secondary education at Farranferris College in Cork city and proceeding to All Hallows in Dublin where he began his studies for the priesthood.

Ordained a deacon by fellow Corkman and Archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Timothy Manning, Bishop O’Connell was later ordained a priest by another Corkman, Bishop John Scanlan of Honolulu in 1979 and he was posted to Los Angeles where he spent his entire ministry.

Bishop O’Connell was a regular visitor to Cork where he often said Mass including at his local church, St Mary’s in Knockraha where he was on Monday remembered with fondness by parishioners.

Local woman, Nancy Conroy from the village, recalled how approachable Bishop O’Connell was whenever he was at home. “It was so sad to hear he had been shot – he was a lovely man, really and truly, we knew him as Fr O’Connell back then – he used to come and say Mass here in the morning when he was home on holidays – he always had time for people and people had great time for him,” she said.

Fellow Knockraha resident, Eddie Mackessy similarly remembered the late Bishop O’Connell as a most unassuming man, who mixed easily with people, including when he used to organise fundraisers in the local community centre for various projects in Los Angeles.

“He used to organise these fundraisers here in the hall for these projects he was involved in back in Los Angeles, but he was always very down to earth – he would have the collar off and was just one of the group really, no airs and graces at all about him, just a regular bloke really,” he said.