Report: Miami police shoot naked man chewing on victim's face

Opmmur

Time Travel Professor
Messages
5,049
Report: Miami police shoot naked man chewing on victim's face

By Jim Gold, msnbc.com

A Miami police officer fatally shot a naked man chewing the face of another man Saturday afternoon on a downtown causeway off-ramp, officials said.

The Miami Herald reported that the naked man chewed off half the face of his victim, who is struggling for his life.

The violence started at 2 p.m. on the MacArthur Causeway off-ramp, just south of the Herald’s offices, the newspaper said.

Witnesses said that a woman saw two men fighting and flagged down a police officer, who came upon the naked man mauling the other man, the Herald reported.

The officer, who was not identified, ordered the naked man to back away, but when the man continued the assault, the officer shot him, the Herald said. Witnesses told the Herald the wounded attacker continued to eat his victim, so the officer continued firing.

Witnesses said they heard at least a half-dozen shots, the Herald said.

The naked man was later seen lying face down on the pedestrian walkway just below the newspaper’s two-story parking garage, the Herald said.

The naked man’s victim was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital Ryder Trauma Center and had critical injuries, police told the Herald.

Neither man was identified.

Watch US News videos on msnbc.com

“Based on the information provided, our Miami police officer is a hero and saved a life,’’ Javier Ortiz, spokesman for Miami police’s Fraternal Order of Police, told the Herald.

A police department news release about the shooting did not include many details provided by witnesses to the newspaper.

Police requested the newspaper's video surveillance video, the Herald reported.

The shooting and investigation tied up causeway traffic as crowds were arriving at South Beach for an annual Urban Beach Week hip-hop festival.
 

Opmmur

Time Travel Professor
Messages
5,049
Girlfriend of face-eating attacker blames drugs or voodoo

By Karen Yi, NBCMiami.com Miami-Dade Police Dept. / AP
120529-face-chew-230p.380;380;7;70.jpg



This photo from the Miami-Dade Police Department shows Rudy Eugene, 31, who was shot and killed by police.

The girlfriend of the face-eating attacker who mauled off most of another man’s face said her boyfriend was either unknowingly drugged or placed under a voodoo curse.
She told the Miami Herald the attacker, identified as 31-year-old Rudy Eugene, was “sweet and well-mannered.” The girlfriend, who asked that her name not be disclosed, said she was shocked to hear her boyfriend was the man everyone was calling the “Miami Zombie.”

“Something happened out of the ordinary that day. I don’t want him to be labeled the Miami Zombie,” she told the Herald. “He was a person. I don’t want him to go down like that.”

Read the original story at NBCMiami.com

Eugene was fatally shot by an officer as he chewed off more than 80 percent of a homeless man’s face. The victim, identified as 65-year-old Ronald Poppo, remains in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

The Jackson Memorial Foundation said Thursday that it has set up a fund to help Poppo through its website, www.jmf.org.
Surveillance videos captured by security cameras at the Miami Herald building show Eugene walking on a pedestrian bridge near MacArthur Causeway Saturday and encountering his victim.


2012-05-31t003337z_826074365_tm3e85u1klq01_rtrmadp_3_usa-miami-attack.380;380;7;70.jpg


Ronald Poppo, who was savagely mauled by another man, is seen in a photo released by the Miami-Dade Police Department.

In the nearly 20-minute attack, Eugene dragged Poppo along the sidewalk and ripped his clothes off, the video showed.
Authorities said when the officer, identified as Jose Rivera, arrived, he was forced to open fire and kill Eugene when he continued to savagely attack Poppo’s face. Officials said Eugene growled at the officer and kept eating at the man’s face.

Eugene’s girlfriend said she was hysterical when she heard it was her boyfriend who had attacked the man on MacArthur Causeway.
“I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God, that’s crazy,’ she told the Herald. “I didn’t know that it was Rudy.”

She said Eugene was never violent around her and though he smoked marijuana, didn’t use stronger drugs, the newspaper said.
Records showed Eugene was arrested for a variety of charges between 2004 and 2008, including battery and trespassing. He also served time for selling and possessing marijuana.

The girlfriend said the day he died Eugene kissed her goodbye, told her "I love you" and left early in the morning with his Bible in his hand.
She said Eugene, who worked at a car wash, would always read the Bible to her and carried it with him everywhere.

Eugene's brother told NBC 6 Wednesday that he was also a little shocked when he heard about what happened.

“Pretty uncharacteristic of him. It was real weird – kind of mixed emotions, I think,” said the brother, who only gave his first name, Thompson. “Through the whole thing I was mostly thinking about my mom.”

Eugene's girlfriend said though she’s never believed in voodoo, she does now.
“I don’t know how else to explain this,” she told the Herald.

The Jackson Memorial Foundation said those interested in contributing to Poppo's fund should click the "Take Action Now" tab on its site, then click donations, select "others" under contribution details, and type in Ronald Poppo.
 

Justinian

Active Member
Messages
888
I didn't hear about this for a few days afterwards. And all my friends were emailing me claiming the zombie apocolypse had arrived. I read something on MSN about this and it said this was the 4th incident of it's type in Miami Dade county this year.
 


Top