Some L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputies have come under fire for allegedly sharing disturbing photos of the scene where Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gigi, and 7 others died in a helicopter crash, and the photos included remains from the gruesome aftermath.
Kobe’s family, along with the family’s of other victims of the crash were reportedly contacted by the Los Angeles police department and warned that graphic death photos of their family members may leak online shortly.
It’s not clear who took the photos, but it was being talked about by first responders just 2 days after the crash, according to the L.A. Times. The report adds that at least one L.A. County Sheriff’s official had the photos on his cell phone “in a setting that had nothing to do with the investigation.”
The gruesome photos were also passed around by members of the L.A. County Fire department and the department is now investigating.
According to the LA Times, they spoke to someone who saw the leaked photos.
The report states: “One of the sources told The Times that the sharing of photos of the crash scene and the victims’ remains was the topic of a discussion among first responders two days after the crash.
“The source said he saw one of the photos on the phone of another official, in a setting that had nothing to do with the investigation of the crash. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter.”
According to TMZ, one of the L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies who responded to the crash scene – a trainee – took photos and at some point went to a bar and, as one source put it, ‘he tried to impress a girl by showing her the photos’.”
The bartender overheard the conversation and filed an online complaint with the Sheriff’s Dept, the publication adds.
The LA Times spoke with Captain Jorge Valdez on Wednesday, and he said that “his office had been obligated to contact the family members of crash victims” about the photos. The official told The Times the reason for contacting them was not because of the allegation but rather because there was a media inquiry over the allegation. He added that he was “unaware of any complaint” about the leaked photos.
