US deputies ‘shared graphic pictures of Kobe Bryant helicopter crash site’

Disaster scene: the helicopter crashed into a hillside during fog
AP

Eight American law enforcement officers were today revealed to have taken or shared graphic photos of ­basketball legend Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash site.

Los Angeles County sheriff Alex Villanueva said he was “devastated and heartbroken” at the “inexcusable” actions of the deputies.

Bryant, 41, pictured below, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers throughout his 20-year career, died along his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people when their helicopter plunged into a hillside in California in January.

Mr Villanueva said he had ordered the wreckage photos that were either taken or shared by eight deputies be immediately deleted.

Kobe Bryant
AFP via Getty Images

“That was my number one priority, to make sure those photos no longer exist,” he told NBC News.

“We identified the deputies involved, they came to the station on their own and had admitted they had taken them and they had deleted them. And we’re content that those involved did that.”

Tributes to Kobe Bryant - In pictures

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The sheriff said he learnt during the week of the crash that killed the American sporting great on January 26 that as many as eight deputies might have been involved.

“We’ve communicated in no uncertain terms that the behaviour is inexcusable,” he said.

That was my number one priority, to make sure those photos no longer exist

Los Angeles county sheriff Alex Villanueva

“I mean, people are grieving for the loss of their loved ones. To have that on top of what they’ve already gone through is unconscionable.”

Mr Villanueva said the deputies are facing an investigation and possible disciplinary action.

The Los Angeles Times reported last week that a source had seen one of the photos on the phone of another official in a setting that was unrelated to the investigation. He said the photos showed the scene and victims’ remains.

Only the county coroner’s office and the National Transportation Safety Board were authorised to take photographs of the crash scene.

The sheriff said “it’s just a sense of betrayal” to learn that other photos were taken, describing it as “a punch to the gut”.

Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, earlier said she was “absolutely devastated” by the reports.

The passengers and pilot were on their way to a youth basketball tournament at Bryant’s sports facility in Thousand Oaks when the helicopter crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, north-west of Los Angeles, in foggy weather. The cause is still under investigation.

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