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Reports: Miami 'zombie' attacker may have been using 'bath salts'
A naked man who chewed off the face of another man in what is being called a zombie-like attack may have been under the influence of "bath salts," a drug referred to as the new LSD, according to reports from CNN affiliates in Miami.
Why 'bath salts' are dangerous
The horrific attack occurred Saturday and was only stopped after a police officer shot the attacker several times, killing him.
'Zombie apocalypse' trending as bad news spreads quickly
Larry Vega witnessed the attack on Miami's MacArthur Causeway. He told CNN affiliate WSVN he saw one naked man chewing off the face of another naked man.
Rudy Eugene
"The guy was like tearing him to pieces with his mouth, so I told him, 'Get off!'" Vega told WSVN. "You know it's like the guy just kept eating the other guy away, like ripping his skin."
"It was just a blob of blood," WSVN quoted Vega as saying. "You couldn't really see, it was just blood all over the place."
Vega said he flagged down a passing police officer.
"When the officer approached him, told him to stop, pointed a gun at him, he turned around and growled like a wild animal and kept eating at the man's face," Fraternal Order of Police President Armando Aguilar told CNN affiliate WPLG.
The attacker was identified by Miami-Dade Police as 31-year-old Rudy Eugene. Miami-Dade referred CNN to Miami Police for all other details of the investigation.
Augilar said he suspects the attacker was under the influence of "bath salts." Four other drug use instances in Miami-Dade bear resemblances to Saturday's attack, he told WPLG.
"It causes them to go completely insane and become very violent" and take off their clothes, Augilar told WPLG.
Dr. Paul Adams, an emergency room physician at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, told CNN affiliate WFOR that the drug makes users delirious. They exhibit elevated temperatures and extreme physical strength, Adams said.
“I took care of a 150 pound individual who you would have thought he was 250 pounds,” WFOR quoted Adams as saying. “It took six security officers to restrain the individual.”
Adams said users have been known to use their jaws as weapons, according to WFOR.
According to a 2011 report from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, bath salts contain amphetamine-like chemicals.
"Doctors and clinicians at U.S. poison centers have indicated that ingesting or snorting 'bath salts' containing synthetic stimulants can cause chest pains, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, agitation, hallucinations, extreme paranoia, and delusions," according to the NIDA report.
In October, the Drug Enforcement Administration made possession of the stimulants in bath salts, Mephedrone, 3,4 methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and Methylone, illegal under an emergency order. The order lasts for a year with a possible six-month extension.
The stimulants have been placed under restrictions or banned in 37 states, according to a DEA press release.
The victim of Saturday's attack, whom police have not identified, was in critical condition at Jackson Memorial on Monday, according to the WPLG report. Augilar told WPLG that 75% to 80% of his face was missing.
Eugene had an arrest record, mostly misdemeanors, including a battery charge from when he was 16 that was later dropped, according to the Miami Herald.
He had been married but divorced in 2007, WPLG reported. His former wife told the station that Eugene had been violent toward her.
Homeless people near where the attack took place said Eugene was often seen around the area looking confused, according to WPLG.
All i have to say is "what the Hell".
why are they both naked, how is it that they other dude didnt stop the dude from eating his face. i mean come on, if some one was tryin to eat my face id stop em
Did you not read the article at all? The drug gave the guy extreme physical strength. If it took 6 cops to take down some one loike him what are you going to do alone? exactly ineffective. Also they said the drug makes you hot so you take off all your clothes come on read this time.
80 to 75% of the mans face was missing. That is just so terrible and gruesome. These "bath salts" scare me.
Gross, simply gross.
no1 else finds it weird that he was just up on a highway eating the guy??
YESSS! I do lol.
yess i know right!!! and like, how come the guy didnt react??
i mean would u let someone chew ur face just like that??
maybe i missed something idk but it is weird.
This is a sure sign of the zombie rise. Seriously, has anyone read the Zombie Survival Guide? page 26: "Cases of violent insanity in which the subject attacked friends or family without the use of weapons...the attacker bit or tried to bite his victims...? yeah that sounds an awful lot like a zombie incursion to me.
Hey, he is not a zombie. He is simply insane. For someone to be a zombie you have to be dead. This guy was not dead.
This is one of the most desterbing storys i have ever herd. there are a lot of crazy people in the world to day.
awww
But he looks like such a nice guy... LOL
So much for the war on drugs. Some people will take anything to get high...
Not OK this drug is called zombie drug and or bath salts two things at least my mom knows medicean also that if u play black-ops I at least get to kill so the zombie won't biet my face off
Yeah...think I'll avoid vacationing in Miami.
Be afraid be very afraid my uncle OD'd off bath salts a month ago and when using you temp rises his was 106 when they got him to hospital.He is ok but dont know what long term effects this has.Still sold in FL. gas stations and cigg stores
When there's no more room in hell, then the dead will walk the earth.
Resident Evil Miami
read the article carefully. no evidence that "bath salts" were in his system just a quote from a cop assuming the cause and quotes from a doctor about some generic experiences with the drug. poor journalism
Time to deploy the undead task force.
well they said he overdosed right before he attacked this man so in a way i think that means he was either dead or pretty close to it. i believe in the zombie theory. they are out there
I'm just going to say the thing that we all might be thinking to an extent, but for whatever reason still find it hard to wrap our minds around....demonic possession is alive and well.
i agree! @lelagallo
The main reason most people won't say the "P" word is because they have never seen it. Those who have rarely admit to for being called crazy. Its easier to blame something prosaic like drugs. People are basing a lot of their opinions on the words of an emergency room doctor, not a coroner or a specialist. This was most likely a PR move to stave off panic. If he's wrong, he's as expendable as a "Goat for Azazel." I still like Ergot poisoning as a diagnosis. When this fungus enters the liver through the blood stream, it creates a long term LSD spike. If it his the brain it spongiforms. It grows most commonly on grain and the most frequent host is Rye, but it can grow on any. If Ergotism is treated early enough, recovery is likely. If not, a person infected will start to walk with a convulsing twitch, completely go insane from the continued spike, and if the victim survives long enough the condition can become gangrenous. That means that ears, nose, fingers, and toes will stat to rot... like a zombie.
Ummm, we are not all thinking that. Really.