The block in question is a residential street lined with one-story ranch-style homes.
Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez confirmed the death, saying O'Connell, who served in the city for 45 years as a priest and later a bishop, “passed away unexpectedly.”
“It is a shock and I have no words to express my sadness,” Gomez said in a statement, calling him “a good friend.” “Bishop Dave was a man of deep prayer who had a great love for Our Blessed Mother,” he 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.”
Hacienda Heights is an unincorporated community about 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of downtown Los Angeles.