Lifelong friend of Cork bishop 'devastated' by his LA death

Bishop David O'Connell, originally from Glanmire, Co Cork, was found in his home on Hacienda Drive, Los Angeles, after being shot multiple times.

A long-time friend of a Cork-born bishop shot dead in Los Angeles has spoken of his "shock and devastation" at the violent passing of the 69-year-old.

Sligo born Fr Jarlath Cunnane, Pastor at St Cornelius' Church in Los Angeles, first met Bishop David O'Connell in 1971 at All Hallows College in Dublin, where they both studied for the priesthood.

He told Morning Irelandthat Bishop O'Connell was his 'anam cara'.

"In Ireland, we used to talk about the 'anam cara' — the soul friend. So we were soul friends all those years. We travelled together, we prayed together, we worked together. There is a level of tremendous shock and devastation but yet I am grateful to have known him all these years."

He said the Bishop had a talent for friendship.

"He had a very wide range of friendships. I suppose notably up and down the social scale. He had friendships with the poor, the disenfranchised, people on the margins but he also had a capacity to develop friendships with the movers and the shakers. Not just the moving and the shaking but with the City Council, the Mayor, Police chiefs, and all of that.

"It was that capacity especially when he was in the inner city in South LA that gave him the ability to bring people together and to bring people together who were not talking to one another."

Gun violence

Fr Cunnane said that Bishop O'Connell assisted numerous individuals and families who had been impacted by gun violence.

"He (encountered) many victims of gun violence. All of us have done way too many funerals of young men killed in gang violence and in violence in general. It was very much part of the environment.

"Because of that suffering, he was driven to want to do something. Back when we were down in the city the police were like an occupying army and they were distrusted. It became clear to Dave that that all had to change and he began to develop those relationships and to bring the community ... their private pain to public speech and then develop a community action from there."

Bishop O'Connell was praised by officials as a community peacemaker and was known for his advocacy work for the vulnerable in society.

Fr Cunnane said he last saw Bishop O'Connell face to face on the Thursday before he died.

The Bishop was "in great form, his humorous self" who had "an infinite fund of jokes and stories".

He added that he was touched by the incredible outpouring of love and esteem for his friend.

"It is absolutely extraordinary. When you have the border supervisors of the county of LA flying the flags at half mast, that's a big thing here.

"Civic leaders coming out, congress people and all of that, giving testimony to how they'd known him, what he'd meant to them, their friendship with him, their work with him. It's been quite extraordinary."

Meanwhile, a man aged in his 60s  has been charged with the murder of Bishop O'Connell. Carlos Medina has been charged with one count of murder by use of a firearm. The man is the husband of Bishop O'Connell's housekeeper. There is no known motive for the shooting.