Tragedy struck earlier this morning after news surfaced that Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant, were involved in a helicopter crash that killed all 9 individuals on board.
Three more victims were identified which included John Altobelli, his wife Keri, and his daughter Alyssa.
Reports say that Gianna and Alyssa, 13, were teammates at the Mamba Academy and were flying from Orange County to Thousand Oaks to attend a game, OCC assistant coach Ron La Ruffa told CNN.
He also told CNN that this is something that they routinely did as a group.
Altobelli and his wife also had another daughter and a son who were not on the plane.
ABC 7 Reports:
John Altobelli died Sunday morning, according to college officials. Altobelli was the longest-tenured baseball coach in the school’s history and was entering his 28th season, according to the OCC Pirate Athletics.
It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of Orange Coast College head baseball coach John Altobelli. He was a coach, a colleague, a mentor and a friend at OCC for 27 years.
Read our full statement at https://t.co/ttTGWOZKnm pic.twitter.com/ch8ilLHHl4
— Orange Coast College (@orangecoast) January 26, 2020
According to Altobelli’s brother, Tony, he was on the aircraft with his wife and daughter Alyssa when it crashed shortly before 10 a.m. in rough terrain in the area of Las Virgenes Road and Willow Glen Street.
Paramedics also helicoptered to the scene and were hoisted down to try to aid any possible survivors, but all died at the scene, officials said.
Altobelli led the Pirates to numerous championship titles, garnering more than 700 wins during his career and four state championships.
“John meant so much to not only Orange Coast College, but to baseball,” said Coast Athletic Director Jason Kehler in a written statement. “He truly personified what it means to be a baseball coach. The passion that he put into the game, but more importantly his athletes, was second to none – he treated them like family.”
Community members began to gather and mourn at the college Sunday following the news of his death.
Sources say that Altobelli was the longest-tenured baseball coach in the school’s history.
Last year, he was named as a Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Let us please keep the family of the deceased in our prayers. This is a tragedy that no family should have to go through. RIP
