It's been dubbed the "zombie apocalypse" online – the horrific Miami cannibal attack where one homeless man attacked and ate off another homeless man's face over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. However, although such a crime is rare, it is not the first time such an attack has occurred.
Ronald Poppo, 65, was viciously attacked by 31-year-old Rudy Eugene on Saturday in a gory assault that saw the top half of the victim's face bitten off piece by piece by Eugene.
Poppo at the moment is clinging onto life following the ordeal but remains in hospital in critical condition. Photos of the state of his face after the attack reveal that only the areas where he has a mustache and goatee remain intact on his face.
What sets this attack apart from some similar cannibal-style attacks that have occurred in the past is that Eugene attacked Poppo in broad daylight, alongside a busy highway. Other incidents have happened in private, suggesting the attackers had some pre-meditated thoughts of what they would do and wanted to get away with it. Eugene, however, was reportedly high on bath salts, which drove him into a state of delirium. Even when police ordered him to stop eating Poppo and to surrender, he simply growled at them in an animalistic manner and continued his attack.
Police officers were forced to shoot Eugene to bring a halt to the horrendous attack; he was shot a reported 12 times before he stopped. He died at the scene.
Other morbid incidents in Florida over recent weeks have led some Internet conspiracy theorists to suggest a "zombie apocalypse" has arrived. A zombie apocalypse is when humans turn into zombies and begin searching for live humans to feed on. The concept has been featured in various horror movies for decades.
Blog site IHopeRickSantorum has compiled a list of various zombie-type happenings in Florida and other states over the past two weeks:
- On May 16, students and teachers at a Florida high school had to be decontaminated after a nasty mysterious rash broke out among the school population, according to the Huffington Post.
- On May 21, an Illinois, man was arrested after allegedly biting an 18-year-old woman's cheek, according to MySuburbanLife.com.
- On May 23, a man in California was arrested for allegedly biting the tip off of his cousin's nose off, according to NBC San Diego.
- On May 26, the same day as the infamous Miami cannibal attack, a Florida anesthesiologist allegedly banged his head against the inside of a cop car until he started bleeding following a DUI arrest. He then proceeded to allegedly spit blood in a police officer's face, according to ABC News.
One of the most famous cases of cannibalism occurred over 14 years. Jeffery Dahmer murdered 17 young men across three decades from 1978 until 1991. He viciously attacked and killed his victims and preserved their body parts for consumption in his refrigerator and freezer.
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