Kobe Bryant death: Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, wife and daughter die in helicopter crash
NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant died on Sunday in a helicopter crash and among the victims were Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, OCC assistant coach Ron La Ruffa confirmed Sunday, Jan 26. Altobelli’s wife Keri and daughter Alyssa were also among the crash victims, Altobelli’s brother Tony, Orange Coast College’s sports information director told CNN.
He had been the coach for Orange Coast College for 24 years and was 56 years old. He was also the American Baseball Coaches Association’s national Coach of the Year in 2019. Gianna and Alyssa were teammates at the Mamba Academy, and according to OCC assistant coach Ron La Ruffa, had been traveling to Thousand Oaks. “It was something John routinely did, flying up with Kobe to attend games with his daughter,” La Ruffa told CNN.
Bryant was 41 years old. His 13-year-old daughter, Gianna also died in the crash. The other victims have not been identified yet. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Daryl Osby said in a press conference, "All survivors were determined to have been perished,” Osby said.
"Our firefighters on the scene indicated there was a debris-filled and steep terrain with quarter-acre brushfire,” Osby said. “Our firefighters hiked into the accident site with medical equipment and hose lines to extinguish the stubborn fire, as it included the brushfire debris from the helicopter. The fire also included magnesium which is very hard for our firefighters to extinguish because magnesium reacts with oxygen and water.”