| Miami cannibal attack | |
|---|---|
 Arts & Entertainment District neighborhood, where the attack took place. | |
| Location | Miami, Florida, United States |
| Coordinates | 25°47′14″N 80°11′12″W / 25.78728°N 80.18656°W |
| Date | May 26, 2012 1:55 – 2:13 p.m. (EDT) |
Attack type | Cannibalistic |
| Deaths | 1 (the perpetrator, shot) |
| Injured | 1 (Ronald Poppo, bitten) |
| Perpetrator | Rudy Eugene |
On May 26, 2012, Rudy Eugene attacked and maimed Ronald Poppo, a homeless man, on the MacArthur Causeway in Miami, Florida. During the 18-minute filmed encounter, Eugene accused Poppo of stealing his Bible, beat him unconscious, removed his pants, and bit off most of Poppo's face above his beard (including his left eye), leaving him blind in both eyes.[1] As a result of the incident's shocking nature and subsequent worldwide media coverage, Eugene came to be dubbed the "Miami Zombie" and the "Causeway Cannibal."[2] The attack ended when Eugene was fatally shot by an officer of the Miami Police Department.
Although friends and family filled in details of Eugene's life, the reason for the attack remains unclear. Eugene, 31, employed at a car wash at the time, was divorced and had a series of petty criminal arrests from age 16, with the last in 2009. While police sources speculated that the use of a street drug like "bath salts" might have been a factor,[3] experts expressed doubt, since toxicology reports were only able to identify small amounts of marijuana in Eugene's system, leaving the ultimate cause of his behavior unknown.[4] Poppo, 65, a graduate of Manhattan's Stuyvesant High School, was homeless and had long been presumed dead by his estranged family.
- ^ Richard Luscombe in Miami (30 May 2012). "Face-eating victim 'will recover' from horrific Miami attack". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2012-06-08.
- ^ "Friends of cannibal Rudy Eugene say he was not 'a face-eating zombie monster' as police reveal first picture of homeless victim in bizarre Miami attack". Herald Sun. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
- ^ "Eugene's Friends Recall His Last Words To Them Before Causeway Attack". Miami CBS Local. May 31, 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-06-05. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
Miami Police believe the 31-year-old was under the influence of something much more powerful than marijuana the day he walked on the MacArthur Causeway, shedding his clothes along the way. Authorities believe LSD, or possibly a designer drug known as "bath salts", may have been in Eugene's system when he chewed the face of his victim.
- ^ "Medical examiner rules out bath salts in Miami face-chewing attack". Fox News. Associated Press. June 27, 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
Lab tests detected only marijuana in the system of a Florida man shot while chewing another man's face, the medical examiner said Tuesday, ruling out other street drugs including the components typically found in the stimulants known as bath salts.