Source: Face eating man shot by police identified

Miami police shoot, kill attacker

MIAMI – Sources identified the man who was shot and killed by police while biting off parts of another man's face near Downtown Miami on Saturday.

Police sources identified the man as Rudy Eugene.

Police said Eugene, 31, was found attacking another man near the west end of the MacArthur Causeway and Biscayne Boulevard on Saturday afternoon.

"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 said Sunday.

A witness said Eugene was biting off pieces of the other man's face and tossing them aside. He described it as looking like a scene out of The Walking Dead.

Police then shot and killed Eugene after attempting to stop the assault.

It's unclear what sparked the fight.

Aguilar said Eugene had likely overdosed, citing four past instances in Miami-Dade County when people overdosed on a type of LSD, removed their clothes, and became violent.

"It causes them to go completely insane and become very violent," said Aguilar.

The victim, a homeless man who frequents the same area where he was nearly killed, is listed in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Aguilar said 75 to 80 percent of the victim's face was missing.

Both men have had prior run-ins with law enforcement. Miami-Dade court records for both show both men have been arrested for mostly a handful of misdemeanors.

Who is Rudy Eugene?

Eugene was previously married. He met his now ex-wife in high school at North Miami Beach Senior High.

Their marriage was short-lived, lasting a year and a half.

"I wouldn't say he had mental problem but he always felt like people was against him type of attitude. No one was for him, everyone was against him," said Eugene's ex-wife.

The two filed for divorce in 2007 during a violent point in their relationship.

The woman told Local 10's Terrell Forney that Eugene became increasingly violent toward her.

"That's why I left," said Eugene's ex-wife.

The two had not spoken in three or four years.

A woman who answered the door at Eugene's former North Miami Beach home told Local 10 that the prior family had lost the 1-story house to foreclosure in 2011.

However, Eugene would often pop up to the home unannounced, often looking for mail, which made the new family uncomfortable.

"He kind of looked weird a little bit but other than that I said as long as I've got bats and got the alarm system put up, I was okay," said the woman.

The homeless, who camp near where it all happened, say they knew Eugene. They saw him frequently in that area walking around confused.

"I was actually talking to him the other day," one homeless man said. "It's pretty weird."


About the Authors:

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.