neither Eugene nor Poppo knew the other before their encounter, until a July 2012 publication revealed that Eugene had met Poppo while working for the homeless community of Miami. A passing cyclist, Larry Vega, came upon the scene and alerted authorities via 9-1-1. A few minutes later, Miami Police Department officer Jose Ramirez arrived and, after doing a double take at the spectacle, warned Eugene to desist from attacking Poppo. Eugene ignored the officer's warnings and, instead, reportedly growled at him, then resumed biting his victim. The attack ended at 2:13 pm with Officer Ramirez shooting Eugene once at first, which proved ineffective, and then another four times. The ordeal was captured by a security camera on The Miami Herald building. Surveillance video shows that the attack continued for 18 minutes before help arrived. Aftermath Poppo was admitted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition, with 75–80% of his face above the beard missing and his left eye gouged out. He underwent facial reconstruction surgeries that took months to complete, but he remained permanently disfigured and blind. To help with the costs, a fund was set up and has collected $100,700 since July 17, 2012. Poppo spoke to police, whom he thanked for saving his life, on July 19, explaining that Eugene, whom he hardly knew, approached him in a friendly manner but then, complaining he couldn't "score" at the beach and "souped up on something", started to talk about how they were going to die, accused Poppo of stealing his Bible, and, suddenly and without provocation, attacked and strangled him with wrestling holds, and then "plucked out" both his eyes. Poppo lost his eyebrows, his nose, parts of his forehead and cheek, and his left eye, and was left totally blind due to the damage to his remaining right eye. He underwent numerous surgeries to repair the damage to his face. After rehabilitation, he put on , and relearned how to dress, feed himself, shower, and shave. He was granted permission to stay at the medical facility indefinitely. Inconclusive toxicology-investigation Although the autopsy revealed no human flesh in Eugene's stomach, a number of undigested pills were discovered that have not been identified. Although police sources had speculated that the street drug "bath salts" might have been involved, preliminary toxicology reports were positive only for the presence of cannabis. Authorities did not necessarily find the negative results conclusive; Broward County