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A Miami police officer fatally shot a naked man chewing the face of another man Saturday afternoon on a downtown causeway off-ramp, officials said.

The Miami Herald reported that the naked man chewed off half the face of his victim, who is struggling for his life.

The violence started at 2 p.m. on the MacArthur Causeway off-ramp, just south of the Herald’s offices, the newspaper said.

Witnesses said that a woman saw two men fighting and flagged down a police officer, who came upon the naked man mauling the other man, the Herald reported.

The officer, who was not identified, ordered the naked man to back away, but when the man continued the assault, the officer shot him, the Herald said. Witnesses told the Herald the wounded attacker continued to eat his victim, so the officer continued firing.

Witnesses said they heard at least a half-dozen shots, the Herald said.

The naked man was later seen lying face down on the pedestrian walkway just below the newspaper’s two-story parking garage, the Herald said.

The naked man’s victim was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital Ryder Trauma Center and had critical injuries, police told the Herald.

Neither man was identified.

“Based on the information provided, our Miami police officer is a hero and saved a life,’’ Javier Ortiz, spokesman for Miami police’s Fraternal Order of Police, told the Herald.

A police department news release about the shooting did not include many details provided by witnesses to the newspaper.

Police requested surveillance video that had been obtained by the newspaper, the Herald reported.

The shooting and investigation tied up causeway traffic as crowds were arriving at South Beach for an annual Urban Beach Week hip-hop festival.

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