Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday in Calabasas, California. He was 41.
The L.A. Times reports: “The crash occurred shortly before 10 a.m. near Las Virgenes Road, south of Agoura Road, according to a watch commander for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The crash ignited a brush fire and made it difficult for firefighters and emergency personnel to get to the aircraft, he said. … The Sikorsky S-76 helicopter had nine people on board and there appeared to be no survivors.”
ESPN reports: “The crash comes one day after Bryant was passed by Lakers forward LeBron James for third place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. As late as 10:39 p.m. ET on Saturday night, Bryant was active on social media, congratulating Bryant on Twitter during the Lakers 108-91 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.”
UPDATE: The other crash victims have now been named. 56-year-old John Altobelli, the baseball coach at Orange Coast College; Keri Altobelli, his wife; Alyssa Altobelli, their daughter and a teammate of Gianna’s; Christina Mauser, a basketball coach at the nearby Harbor Day School, the school Gianna Bryant attended; Payton Chester, a middle school student; Sarah Chester, Payton’s mother; Ara Zobayan, the pilot.
