Authorities confirmed on Saturday that a 69-year-old Catholic bishop who served Los Angeles’ inner city for more than 40 years was shot to death.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department released a statement on Saturday afternoon stating that David O’Connell, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, had been found with at least one gunshot wound and had been pronounced dead at the scene in Hacienda Heights. O’Connell’s death’s circumstances weren’t immediately clear, but police said they didn’t know who the suspect is.

O’Connell, an Irish native, spent years serving South Los Angeles locals, which he referred to as a “wonderful honour” when he was chosen bishop in 2015. Jose H. Gomez, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, stated in a statement, “He had a compassion for the underprivileged and immigrants and a desire to create a community where the integrity and dignity of every human existence were valued and upheld. He was a peacemaker.”