TMZ video of murder condemned by victim's family

The family of a man shot dead in a brawl outside a Hollywood nightclub have condemned the US gossip website TMZ as "disgusting" after it published a video of the incident.

The two-minute video shows dozens of clubgoers throwing punches outside a Los Angeles nightspot before one man pulls out a gun and fires two shots.

It then replays the incident in slow motion and shows a man in jeans and a black hooded top lying face down on the ground.

TMZ said the video was filmed by one of its own photographers. It appears on TMZ under the headline, "Clubgoer shot dead (video)" and has been viewed more than 17,300 times on YouTube and widely republished on other websites.

A man purporting to be the uncle of the victim condemned TMZ for "thoughtlessly and carelessly" posting the video and demanded an apology in a petition on the website Change.org. The petition by Jason Andrews has attracted 889 signatures at the time of writing.

He said: "These people [TMZ] have no regard for the loved ones affected by this tragedy. I understand freedom of press but the line has to be drawn somewhere.

"Its [sic] very obvious that the media has no morals and nothing is off limits when it comes to gaining ratings. What they did is wrong and they need to be held accountable. No one wants to see their loved one in this position, having this event viewed by millions of strangers is disgusting. This video needs to be removed and an apology issued to the family and friends."

Other people claiming to be members of the victim's family supported the petition, writing: "The shooting victim is a member of my family and him being viewed in this manner while others offer irreverent commentary is too much to bear."

Another commenter said: "As a viewer of TMZ, I find this video was posted under a lack of judgement and absolute disregard to the families and friends of this young victim. I'm praying the video is removed soon, and that it is used appropriately by law enforcement to apprehend the heathen whom committed this heinous crime. Until then, I along with others will not continue to support TMZ through viewing."

TMZ is one of the most popular entertainment and gossip websites in the US and has broken a number of Hollywood exclusives about the rich and the famous.

A link to the video on TMZ's Facebook page has been liked by 544 people and reshared 232 times.

Andrews and TMZ had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

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