Serge Aurier's Brother Shot Dead Outside Toulouse Nightclub
By Tom Gott
The brother of Tottenham Hotspur right-back Serge Aurier was shot dead in the early hours of Monday morning outside a Toulouse nightclub.
26-year-old Christopher Aurier, who also came through the Lens academy and had a trial with Brentford back in 2011, was out enjoying his night at local establishment Chez Kin's when he was shot twice in the abdomen.
#Portrait de Christopher #Aurier, le frère de Serge, qui joue à #Toulouse @ladepechedumidi https://t.co/WI4YjVs0gk pic.twitter.com/4dEzPTKRKY
— La Dépêche 31 (@ladepeche31) February 24, 2016
The story was first broken by Le Point and has since been backed up by Europe 1 and local outlet La Dépêche du Midi, all of whom note that Aurier was found with two gunshot wounds to the abdomen and was transported to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Police quickly arrived at the scene but the perpetrator of the shooting managed to flee beforehand. Officials are speaking to witnesses to try and ascertain what happened and a search for the person responsible is ongoing.
Spurs took to their official website to say: "The Club is deeply saddened to confirm media reports that Serge Aurier’s brother passed away in the early hours of this morning.
"We are supporting Serge at this difficult time and we ask that the privacy of the player and his family is respected. Everybody at the Club sends their sincerest condolences to Serge and his family. Our thoughts are with them all."
Like Serge, Christopher was also a footballer. A striker, he never broke through at the highest level after failing to earn himself a contract with Brentford, and he later had a trial with Manchester-based non-league side Stalybridge Celtic.
More recently, he was on the books at French side Toulouse Rodéo, who currently ply their trade in the fifth tier of French football.
The incident came just hours after Serge played the entire 90 minutes of Spurs' 2-1 win over Arsenal in the north London derby.
Goals from Son Heung-min and Toby Alderweireld cancelled out Alexandre Lacazette's stunning opener to help Spurs leapfrog their rivals into eighth in the Premier League table.