'Cannibal' Attack Linked to Drug Recently Outlawed in Ballwin

The New York Daily News reports that a Miami man shot and killed by police when he was found eating another man's face was under the influence of "bath salts," the street name of a drug  in October.

Miami police said they discovered on Saturday 31-year-old Rudy Eugene naked, eating the face of another man, also nude, before ordering Eugene to back away, The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported. When Eugene didn't respond, the officer shot Eugene, who continued eating the man despite the wound. The officer then fired multiple additional shots, eventually killing Eugene.

Reuters, too, reported Wednesday that Eugene may have been under the influence of bath salts, marked by its use of the chemical methylenedioxypyrovalerone  (or MDPV), which reportedly can create a wide range of emotions that can include delusions of having super-powers, hallucinations and violence. Armando Aguilar, president of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police, also told Reuters that Eugene may have taken "a new form of LSD," although toxicology results will not be available for several weeks.

The  in October voted to ban bath salts as well as synthetic cannabinoids, which will allow law enforcement to prosecute people possessing the drug in municipal court; the Missouri legislature outlawed bath salts earlier last year.

“It’s not a controlled substance,” Schicker said last fall of bath salts. “That’s what we’re trying to prevent. There are so many of these products that are coming out new.”