Kobe Bryant & Daughter Among Five Killed in Helicopter Crash

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 06: Kobe Bryant attends the LA Community Screening Of Warner Bros Pictures’ “Just Mercy” at Cinemark Baldwin Hills on January 06, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Multiple media reports have confirmed that former NBA superstar Kobe Bryant was one of five people killed Sunday morning when his personal helicopter crashed in the fog on a mountainside in Calabasas, California. His wife was not on board the fateful flight.

TMZ is also reporting that his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was also killed in the crash. Reportedly, she and Kobe were on their way to her basketball practice in Thousand Oaks, California.

The others who perished have not yet been publicly identified. Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash but at least one witness reported hearing a “sputtering” of the engine before hearing the impact which resulted in a small fire of about an acre of the surrounding dry brush.

This is a developing story.