A group of young men who evidently attacked a woman at a shopping center apparently videotaped the incident and uploaded the video to a hip-hop website, where it then went viral.

In the video, a young man is seen standing next to a confused-looking woman as she paces in front of a store. After a minute or so, the man suddenly punches her in the face as a logo for the website flashes across the screen. He then stands there and laughs for the camera.

The woman then chases after her attacker, waving her fist, but is greeted by another young man, much bigger than the first. As bystanders look at the situation and continue to walk by, the second man charges at the woman and throws another, harder punch, knocking her to the ground. The camera lingers as she lays in a heap on the ground.

The video was uploaded to Worldstar Hip Hop, a site filled with amateur rap videos, violent encounters and sexual content. After going viral, the video drew the attention of the Sacramento, Calif., police, who now say they are investigating the case.

Police say they initially responded to the crime scene, but the woman did not want to press charges and the police did not know that a video had been made that could be used as evidence. They are not releasing the identity of the victim or details about the attack.

Authorities said they expect further developments today and said they think the video will be useful as evidence in any court proceedings.