Barbershop owner says angry customer shot him over haircut

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) – A barbershop owner is recovering after he says an angry customer shot him last week.

Dráque Murff, the owner of Dráque’s Barbershop in Kansas City, told KCTV the customer came into his shop last week and asked for a discounted haircut. One of the barbers at the shop agreed. But Murff said that after the trim, the man complained about it.

“It wasn’t even a bad cut,” Murff said. “[The barber] did a really good job with it. The man just wanted it for free.”

The next day the man returned, looking for the barber. When Murff told him the barber wasn’t there, the man became agitated. Murff said the customer then pulled out a gun.

“I started running,” Murff said. “But then, I got shot in the back.”

Murff said he kept running, but he fell when he tried to jump over a fence. He said the man stood over him with the gun.

“It was a terrible situation, lying there with a gun to my head,” Murff said. “I said one more prayer. He pulled the trigger and I just heard a click.”

He heard several more clicks as a stranger came to help.

“I looked up and saw some big dude,” he said. “He was trying to get the gun away and I went over and started hitting him.”

He said the other barbers had caught up by then and joined in to help. Lalo, a barber who has a chair in Dráque’s, said they eventually got the gun away from the shooter.

“We did what we had to do,” Lalo said.

Murff was taken to the hospital, where he found out the bullet had passed through his side and barely missed his spine.

Police identified the shooter as 33-year-old Vernie Dickens. He was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Detention Center.

KCTV has covered events at the barbershop in the past, including charity toy drives for families and free haircuts for kids. Murff said he thinks of his business as a source of community support. After the shooting, he decided to start a GoFundMe page to help kickstart a nonprofit for violence awareness and prevention.

“I just want to turn tragedy into triumph,” Murff said.

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