Gun pulled in clip joint

By Chen Qian  |   2008-7-31  |     ONLINE EDITION

A man who was unhappy with his hair cut pulled a gun on the owner of the hair salon.

Nanjing police yesterday clipped the gunman's wings and have him locked up while they look into his background.

The man, named Lin, was a regular customer at the hair salon in the Xuanwu District of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. He went to the salon again yesterday despite the heavy rain, the Modern Express reported.

The boss himself cut Lin's hair but the customer, described as a large strong-looking man was not happy with the outcome. They argued briefly and Lin left after forking out 10 yuan (US$1.4).

But five minutes later Lin and his turbulent haircut were back, and this time the aggrieved customer was carrying a gun.

But the hair salon remained a place of calm. No one thought it was a real gun, even when Lin started putting bullets into the chamber and threatening to kill the boss.

The boss stayed cool and, not wanting to upset his other customers, invited Lin to go upstairs with him to discuss the problem.

But raised voices from upstairs were soon echoing around the salon and one of the hairdressers went to see if he could help.

Upstairs the hairdresser found Lin holding a gun to the boss' head while the boss' wife knelt beside him shaking in fear.

The hairdresser bravely offered to mediate and persuaded Lin to return to the salon where he would give him a new hair cut.

Lin finally agreed and was enjoying the look of his new haircut when the police arrived and spoiled his view.

A bystander said that Lin rented a house nearby and was probably from one of Nanjing's suburbs to judge by his accent.