IRISH BISHOP SHOT DEAD

Murder probe after senior cleric, 69, found at LA house with single wound to chest

- PAT FLANAGAN

POLICE in Los Angeles have launched a murder probe after an Irish bishop was found shot dead at a house.

David O'Connell, 69, who had worked in the US city for 45 years, was blasted once in the chest. Originally from Cork, he had devoted his life to working with the poor and victims of gang violence in his adopted home.

Paying tribute, Fr Tom Hayes of the Diocese of Cork and Ross said: "Bishop O'Connell was known as a peace maker."   

TRIBUTES have poured in for a popular Irish bishop who was shot in Los Angeles at the weekend.

There has been shock at the violent death of Cork native, Bishop David O'Connell, at a house in California on Saturday.

The Irish-born Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles was discovered with a gunshot wound in a suburb of the city.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said detectives responded to a shooting death shortly before 1pm on February 18 in the Hacienda Heights neighbourhood.

The 69-year-old was pronounced dead at the property and police said they are treating his death as suspicious.