Tyler, Texas

From July 27, 2006 KLTV channel 7:

What seemed like a normal morning at an East Texas barber shop, ended with gunfire. Just before 10'clock today, police say a man entered Ervin's Barber Shop on Old Noonday Road and asked for a haircut. He then pulled out a gun, demanded money from the barber and threatened to kill him.

Demetrius Ervin has worked out of his barber shop for almost seven years. He says he always keeps a gun in a drawer at the shop, but before today, he's never had to use it. Demetrius Ervin says he works in a quiet neighborhood, a place where everyone knows each other. The man who entered his shop this morning, however, Ervin says he's never seen before.

"I thought he was just a guy off the street," said Demetrius Ervin who was robbed at gunpoint. "He said he needed a haircut, and I said cool, how do you want it cut." The man sat down in this chair. Ervin says he put a cape around him and then turned to his sink to get a comb.

"When I turned around he had a gun on me," said Ervin. "He told me to get on the floor. He didn't say it nicely, but he said get on the floor. I got on the floor. He said if you move I'm killing you, so I said I'm not going to move, take what you want." The man continued to yell at Ervin, as he reached in Ervin's pocket and stole Ervin's wallet. The robber then took off down the street. That's when Ervin grabbed his handgun out of the drawer and fired.

"I was trying to hit him," said Ervin. "He robbed me. He pulled out on me, pulled his gun at me and said he was going to kill me, yeah I fired at him." Ervin says nothing like this has ever happened to him before.

"My eyes are more open now because it's like I'm afraid now because you never know who's coming in," said Ervin. A lesson, Ervin's says he learned the hard way. Ervin was not sure if he actually shot the robber, but police believe the robber is not wounded. Ervin says he had about $75.00 in his wallet along with several credit cards and his social security card. The barber was able to give a good description of the robber. He's a black male, about 6'1", medium build, has a mustache and tattoos on both arms. He was wearing a dark blue shirt, light blue shorts, and gray air Jordan tennis shoes. He was also still wearing his barber shop cape, that had red and white stripes on it when he left.