The Los Angeles County Fire Department planned to fire two firefighters for allegedly taking graphic photos of the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash site, according to court documents filed this week.
But it was unclear whether they have already been fired or disciplined.
Lawyers for the NBA legend’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, made the revelation in a filing on Monday about delaying the trial in her federal lawsuit against LA County, to allow time for additional investigation.
According to the legal docs, the two firefighters were sent “intention to discharge” letters last December after an internal investigation concluded they were mixed up in the sordid photo-sharing saga.
The firefighters allegedly snapped pictures of the crash victims’ remains that “served no business necessity” and “only served to appeal to baser instincts and desires for what amounted to visual gossip,” the filing states.
Kobe Bryant died in the crash in January of 2020. Getty ImagesBoth of them apparently shared the lurid pics with a department media relations officer — who then showed them to off-duty firefighters and their wives and girlfriends while socializing at an event, according to the court docs.
That LAFD worker was sent an “intention to suspend” letter by the department, also in December. But it is also unclear whether action has been taken.
A spokesman for the department declined to comment to local outlet KNBC, citing the pending litigation.
Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe Bryant, is suing Los Angeles County after first responders allegedly took pictures of the helicopter crash site. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, FileBryant’s lawsuit accuses several LA County sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and other officials of sharing morbid photos of the Jan. 26, 2020, crash site in Calabasas, including images of her husband and 13-year-old daughter Gianna’s bodies.
She is suing for negligence, invasion of privacy and a 14th Amendment violation. The trial now appears to have been rescheduled to April 27, 2022.
