KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Draque's Barbershop is a staple in Midtown Kansas City. They're known for giving back to community, in fact, they were grilling food to give away when a disgruntled customer started shooting last week.
Vernie Dickens Jr., 33, is charged with first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.
Barber Draque Murff showed KSHB 41 News on Thursday how close the bullet came to paralyzing him on June 2.
However, Murff and witnesses say the gunman wanted to kill him because he was upset over a haircut.
Court documents said Dickens received a haircut at the barber shop from another barber, listed as KW, on June 1.
After Dickens became upset with the haircut he received, KW did not charge him.
Dickens later returned to the shop the next day and sat in KW's chair, stating he was waiting for him.
Murff saw him and asked Dickens to sit in the waiting area.
Dickens became upset and said to Murff, "Why don't you do your (expletive) job?"
"I got back to cutting. I look at him, I’m like, ‘Come on, man. I just asked you to move,'" Murff told KSHB 41 News. "And then before I could even finish, he pulls out a gun [and] was like, 'I told you to do your job.' He puts it to my face, I immediately turn to the right and run out the front door."
Juan Perez also witnessed the shooting and was shocked by what he saw.
"The guy comes out of this shooting," Perez said. "He stood up here at the door where there were toddlers sitting here trying to get haircuts. And he shoots at Draque, he shot him in the back."
Murff described the pain he felt after being shot.
"It was excruciating pain, and it hurt a lot," Murff said. "But I had to keep running because the dude was chasing me. He was standing unloading clips. I look back — he's running behind me he looked like the Terminator or something."
A witness, identified as CL, followed Murff and Dickens to the back of the barbershop.
The witness observed Dickens standing next to Murff, who was lying on the ground.
Dickens's gun appeared to malfunction, and the witness told detectives he took the opportunity to tackle Dickens and take away the gun.
The intervening witness held Dickens on the ground until police arrived.
Murff took to Instagram to thank a man for saving his life.
As Murff recovers, it's business as usual at his shop on West 39th Street.
"It's still a safe environment," Lalo the Barber, who cuts hair at Draque's Barber Shop, said. "And it's just unfortunate that some people aren't you know, all the way there. You got to be crazy to come in here and do stuff like that here."
Perez said it's unfortunate that incidents like these keep happening.
"The bad thing is people getting guns," Perez said. "There are guns out here like they're toys. They get a hold of them and then over a haircut, you're going to come and shoot an innocent person. This is all that happens — innocent people always end up getting hurt."
In the meantime, Murff will continue to bring awareness to the senseless violence that's plaguing our community.
"People in America should not have to deal with the fact that another person could take your life in any single moment," Murff said.
Murff has started a GoFundMe to raise money for violence prevention.
The suspect is due in court on Monday for a bond review hearing.
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