Firefighters Who Took Grisly Photos Of Bodies At Kobe Bryant's Helicopter Crash Sacked

Two Los Angeles County firefighters are facing termination and a third, a possible suspension, after snapping graphic souvenir photos from the site of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and seven others in January 2020.

Court documents were filed Monday as part of widow Vanessa Bryant's invasion of privacy federal lawsuit against Los Angeles County, according to NBC News.

On December 2, the two firefighters received “notices of discharge” for alleged misconduct following assertions that multiple sheriff’s deputies snapped and shared grisly photos of the January 2020 tragedy.

The third fire crew was reportedly a media relations officer deployed to the scene to assist with press briefings, the court document said.

Citing pending litigation, Captain Ron Haralson, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, declined to comment and refused to verify the employment status of the firefighters involved, ESPN noted.

None of the firemen have been identified by name.

According to Bryant's attorneys, the firefighters' actions “served no business necessity” and instead “only served to appeal to baser instincts and desires for what amounted to visual gossip."

The dissemination of the images was reportedly so widespread within the department that a detective who got the photos couldn't even remember who sent them to him, the paperwork noted.

The filing claimed that the employee who got hold of the graphic photos shared them with a group of off-duty rescue officials, their wives, and girlfriends during an awards ceremony held at a Hilton hotel in February 2020, a month after the tragedy.

The widow's camp has since put forward a motion proposing for the November 16 trial to be moved five months later to April 27, 2022, to follow new leads and amass more devices for forensic examination.

In an April 30 filing, Los Angeles County lawyers argued that Bryant's lawsuit has no merit, calling for its dismissal as the photos were never disseminated to the public.

“The county does not condone this showing of accident site photographs and has taken corrective personnel actions accordingly,” the paperwork argued. “Plaintiff brought this lawsuit because she is concerned that photographs may be publicly disseminated. There is no legal basis for suing defendants for hypothetical harm."

The Bryant widow lodged a legal action lawsuit last year, claiming about eight sheriff’s deputies used their personal cell phones and "took photos of the dead children, parents, and coaches” at the time of the horrific helicopter crash.

Los Angeles County fire captain Tony Imbrenda previously filed his own civil action related to the incident. The media liaison officer was allegedly demoted for refusing to surrender his personal cell phone and laptop during the probe, a violation of the Firefighter Bill of Rights. Imbrenda, however, later handed over his personal devices.

According to his paperwork, obtaining photos from colleagues working at the crash site "is common practice on all major incidents." He confessed to taking photos of the crash site the next day but denied snapping photos of the victims' bodies using his phone.

The helicopter chartered by the Lakers legend crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, California amid dense fog, killing all nine people on board. Kobe Bryant was supposed to arrive at Gianna's youth basketball tournament along with seven other people.

In February, Federal safety officials determined that the pilot, Ara Zobayan, might have been under “self-induced pressure” to please his celebrity client, the New York Daily News reported.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, Zobayan neglected his training and purposely flew into blinding clouds at great speed, allowing himself to become susceptible to spatial disorientation, ultimately leading to the horrific helicopter crash.