Have people become indifferent?

This is quite disturbing but not uncommon.

"Dozens ignore dying man credited with stopping an NYC mugging"

by

Doug Stanglin

April 26th, 2010

USA TODAY

Surveillance video shows that a good Samaritan who was stabbed after apparently stopping a mugging in New York City lies dying on the sidewalk for more than an hour while people walked by without stopping, the New York Post reports.

The victim, a homeless man identified as Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax, is seen collapsing on the sidewalk early last Sunday on 144th St. in Jamaica, Queens. Dozens of people walk by, including one man who takes a video picture.

By the time help arrives, Tale-Yax is already dead, the Post reports.

The New York Times quotes a police spokesman as saying units responded to three 911 calls, the first, shortly before 6 a.m., reported a woman screaming; the second, at 7:09, reported a man lying on the street.

Both calls, the Times says, gave incorrect addresses.

The third, at 7: 21 a.m., about a man lying in the street, led to the discovery of the body.

"We would expect someone to call 911 and, if possible, to stay with the victim until help arrives," police spokesman Paul Browne says, according to The Times.