There are many levels of heartlessness. They're difficult to define. Kind of a know-it-when-you-see-it type thing.
The people you see in this video are boarding a Metrobus in Arlington County, Va. on July 1. That blurry thing on the ground? That's a guy who, having been struck by a vehicle moments earlier, would be declared dead on that very spot.
What's unclear is whether he's already dead. This is unclear because nobody — NOBODY — took the time to see whether he needed any help.
What's quite clear is that these people wallow in the lowest depths of heartlessness that humanity has to offer.
With the bus stopped, passengers file past the man's body. Although someone had called 911 - lights from police cars heading to the scene can be seen in the background - not a single person stops to check on the man, who was either dead or dying. A woman carrying shopping bags walks right by, without hesitation. One man crosses himself after getting on the bus.
Police say they released the video in a "good faith effort" to get witnesses to the accident to step forward. Detectives are not looking to charge anybody in the video with any wrongdoing - they just want them to "come forward and say ‘this is what happened, this is what we saw,'" according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.
"The intent is solely to get these witnesses to… assist police in the reconstruction of what happened that night," Sternbeck said. "The intent is not to say these individuals are accountable for anything."
Sternbeck noted that the driver of the striking vehicle "has been very cooperative," but the case is still open. Charges could still be filed if the driver is thought to be at fault.
Oh, in case they were wondering, that guy's name was Edgar Francisco Aguilar. He was 35.