Tuesday, July 24, 2012

"El Tigre" Shrine for Edgar Aguilar, Columbia Pike, Arlington VA

A spontaneous street shrine has been erected to Edgar Aguilar, who was killed in a bus accident at this site on Columbia Pike in Arlington, Virginia, near the intersection with South Four Mile Run.


According to the news blog ArlNow, "a video was taken on the evening of July 1, 2012. Just minutes prior to the start of the video, a man had been struck by a car on Columbia Pike near the intersection with Four Mile Run Drive, which was darkened due to power outages in the area following the June 29 derecho. The video shows the bus pulling up to the scene, which was next to a bus stop. The man’s bloodied body — blurred out by police — is lying on the sidewalk.
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."

It is the first street memorial I have documented in either Arlington or Alexandria.

May El Tigre rest in peace.

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