(People.com) – Three more victims have been identified of the nine who died on Sunday in the tragic California helicopter crash that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna.
John Altobelli, the head baseball coach at Orange Coast College, was also onboard the aircraft — alongside wife Keri Altobelli and their daughter, Alyssa Altobelli, the school confirmed in a statement on their website.
Alyssa was a teammate of Gianna’s. John, 56, and Keri are also parents to daughter Alexis Altobelli and son J.J. Altobelli, who works as a scout for the Red Sox.
“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,” the school — which is located in Costa Mesa — wrote. “Orange Coast College asks the media and the public to respect the privacy of John’s family and friends during this difficult time.”
John’s brother, Tony Altobelli, told PEOPLE, “I’m numb right now, I’m numb, I’m broken, I’m going to miss him terribly. He was my brother, he was my idol growing up, also my idol as an adult. You want to live my brother did, he was straight and narrow, he worked hard and he earned the respect of everybody who ever knew him and he left a legacy that will go way beyond his time spent in Orange Coast. I don’t know how you can not want to live a life like that.”
The Brewster Whitecaps, John’s former team, also confirmed Keri and Alyssa’s deaths — as did John’s brother, Tony Altobelli, to CNN.
“We are heartbroken and shocked to learn that our former head coach, John Altobelli along with his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa passed away this morning in the helicopter crash that also claimed the lives of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna,” the team wrote on Twitter. “John was our head coach in 2012-14, and his son JJ played for us too. JJ and his other daughter Alexis survive them. Our heartfelt condolences to his family.”
According to the OCC, John racked up more than 700 wins during his career, including numerous conference titles and four state championships. Known as “Coach Alto,” he was “a mentor to his players, often playing a key role in positioning student athletes to obtain scholarships to play at the four-year level.”
In 2019, John was even honored by the American Baseball Coaches Association as an ABCA/Diamond National Coach of the Year.