Related: Medawar jewelers fend off robbers again, this time with guns

UPDATE 1:35 p.m. Northview schools are being told they can switch off from lockdown mode now. Police believe the suspects have left the area and there is no longer danger near the school.

UPDATE: 1:08 p.m.: Police have brought in a canine to track the suspects.

UPDATE: 1:13 p.m.: Police are outside of Medawar jewelers. Police advise cab companies not to pick up "walk up" customers. Four robbers wore black masks, blue coats.

KENT COUNTY, MI – Sheriff’s deputies are searching for five masked, armed suspects who fled Paul Medawar Fine Jewelry on Plainfield Avenue NE after one of the suspects was apparently shot.

Police reported blood at the scene of the jewelry store, near Five Mile Road NE.

A witness near the Plainfield Township branch of the Kent District Library spotted the robbers near the facility, dispatch reports said.

A sheriff's statement offered a limited description of the suspects: " 5 armed, masked persons, assumed to be males, wearing blue coats and black masks, one carrying a sack."

Police later said four men were involved.

All were armed with unknown type of guns, police said.

The suspects are believed to have fled on foot, but there was also police dispatch traffic talking about the suspects having a black van.

The nearby Northview High School has been locked down as a precaution.

Police have advised area hospitals to be on the lookout for a gunshot victim showing up at an emergency room.

There is an increased police presence in the northeastern part of Kent County, including Plainfield Avenue, the East Beltline, and Int. 96.



John Agar covers crime for MLive/Grand Rapids Press E-mail John Agar: jagar@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterJAgar