Graphic photos of the Kobe Bryant crash scene were shared by Los Angeles County sheriff deputies, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.
The Times reported that a public safety source had viewed a photo on the phone of another official that displayed the scene and victims’ remains. The source told the newspaper the incident wasn’t related to the investigation of the crash.
The Sheriff’s Department said the “matter is being looked into,” the Times reported after making multiple inquiries about the situation.
The 41-year-old Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others died in the Jan. 26 helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif.
The Times reported that it remains unclear if the photos were widely circulated.
Meanwhile, TMZ reported one of the deputies being investigated allegedly “tried to impress a girl” at a bar by showing her the gruesome photos of the crash site. A bartender reportedly overheard the conversation and filed an online complaint with the Sheriff’s Department.
TMZ reported the bar incident happened within days of the crash and that authorities had known of it for about three weeks.
The crash happened in foggy conditions and the helicopter slammed into a hill. Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Monday, alleging deceased pilot Ara Zobayan was negligent and should have aborted the flight.
Kobe Bryant, the former Los Angeles Lakers’ star, frequently used helicopters to get from his Orange County home to other parts of the Los Angeles area.
On Jan. 26, he was making the approximately 90-mile trek to a youth basketball tournament in Thousand Oaks at his Mamba Sports Academy. Gianna Bryant and two other girls who died in the helicopter crash — Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester — were players on a team coached by Bryant. Assistant coach Christina Mauser also died in the crash.
Others who perished were Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli and his wife, Keri, as well as parent Sarah Chester, in addition to Zobayan.
—Field Level Media
