Florida deputies radioed chaos of face-biting slayings

'He is biting him,' deputy tells dispatcher

STUART, Fla. – Radio transmissions show Florida sheriff's deputies were confronted with a chaotic scene as they tried to subdue a 19-year-old college student as he allegedly killed a couple outside their home and mauled the dead man's face.

When a dispatcher asks the first Martin County deputy on the scene if she has the suspect controlled, she responds, "No sir, I have this guy wrapped around him and he is biting him."

The agency released the recordings Tuesday.

Sheriff William Snyder said it took numerous deputies and a dog to pry Austin Harrouff off John Stevens, 59, during the Aug. 15 attack. Stevens' wife, Michelle Mishcon, 53, laid dead nearby.

After Harrouff was finally subdued, the first deputy let out a plaintive sigh and then told dispatchers, "(We have) possible two 'sevens,'" the agency's code for dead people.