Police walked into a shocking and gruesome scene at a home in Tequesta, Florida last week. Deputies found 19-year-old student, Austin Harrouff hovering over one of his victims, and biting the man’s face.
Martin County Sheriff William Snyder’s deputy responded to a 911 call in an upscale neighbourhood Monday night. When they found Harrouff, he was on top of 59-year-old Mr Stevens, who he had just stabbed to death. It was reported the student was “biting and removing pieces of the victim’s face with his teeth.” Firing a taser at the shirtless Harrouff had no effect, and even the police dogs’ bites did not deter Harrouff from biting the dead man’s face, authorities said. Snyder said the responding deputies didn’t shoot at Harrouff, fearing their bullets would strike the victim, as they did not know that John was already dead.
Harrouff was finally taken into custody after four deputies and the police dog managed to subdue the student who was exhibiting abnormal levels of strength. He was making “guttural sounds and animal noises,” Snyder told The Washington Post.
Harrouff, a Florida State University student with good grades and no criminal record, attacked John Stevens and Michelle Mishcon outside their home in Tequesta, about 20 miles north of Palm Beach.
Neighbour, Jeff Fisher, who was badly injured after hearing screams and trying to intervene, was stabbed multiple times; once in the neck, three times in the back and once in the side. He managed to call 911 at 9:20pm local time on Monday night.
Fisher, who is expected to survive, told the dispatcher: “There’s a girl laying on the ground. He beat her up. I ran over there and I’m bleeding profusely here at the moment. I don’t know what happened.”
Stevens died in his driveway, while his 53-year-old wife Michelle Mishcon was found dead inside the garage. Both were stabbed multiple times and sustained “massive trauma” to their bodies. “There was an enormous amount of violence inside that garage,” Snyder said.
The victims did not know Harrouff, according to the sheriff, who added that the attack was “completely unprovoked and random.”
Snyder told The Post that Harrouff’s actions pointed to an overdose of the synthetic drug flakka — a more potent form of what is commonly known as bath salts.
Hospital tests have shown no signs of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin or other common drugs.
Further tests are being carried out to look for artificial substances such as flakka, which has been linked with paranoia and hallucinations and has been dubbed “the devil’s drug”.
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