SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – A jewelry robbery turned deadly Friday when gunfire erupted at a busy South County shopping center, leaving a pair of robbers dead.

An employee shot and killed two men during the attempted robbery while a third escaped, managing to elude a police manhunt.

At least two men armed with a handgun entered Monaco Jewelers in the 33000 block of Doheny Park Road about 11:15 a.m. during what police described as a “takeover-style” robbery.

Gunfire broke out, and an employee shot the two robbers, said Lt. Steve Doan of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

“We’re working to determine who shot, how many times and who had weapons,” Doan said.

A third robbery suspect was seen running from the store, although authorities are investigating whether he actually entered the business during the shooting.

Patrol cars, a SWAT team and police canines descended upon the shopping center shortly after the shootings, blocking traffic on Doheny Park road as they searched for the third suspect, who they described as a black man, about 6 feet tall, wearing a light-colored shirt and dark pants.

A nearby Costco store was evacuated as authorities searched the business.

About three hours after the shooting, investigators called off the search, determining that the man had escaped from the area.

One man was detained during the manhunt and arrested on an unrelated warrant, but police quickly determined that he wasn’t their suspect.

Employees trekked back into nearby businesses just after 4 p.m., as authorities reduced their crime scene to encompass only the jewelry store and adjacent shopfronts and intersections.

Sheriff’s Department homicide investigators continued to comb over the jewelry store, as Orange County Coroner’s Office officials removed the two bodies from the scene about 6:45 p.m. Friday. Authorities have not identified the two men.

A Toyota that the three men were seen sitting in before the robbery was taken by Sheriff’s Department officials, who believe that the robbers used the vehicle to get to the jewelry store.

“We don’t know whether it was the only car they had,” Doan said.

Authorities don’t believe that any customers were inside the store during the robbery. No employees were injured.

Investigators interviewed two employees after the robbery, Doan said, as they looked into the circumstances that led to the shooting.

“What caused them to believe they should fire?” Doan said. “Was that person in fear of their life or someone else being injured?”

In addition to the jewelry store’s main entrance, security doors controlled by employees were in place, Doan said. A bullet shattered one of the outside glass doors.

Police are investigating whether the three men were tied to three other jewelry robberies in Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel in recent months.

“There are some similarities, but there are also distinct differences,” Doan said.

It wasn’t the first time that Monaco Jewelers had been targeted by thieves.

In July 2009, the store reported a loss of $5.8 million in jewelry after burglars tunneled their way in through the roof during the Fourth of July weekend.

In what investigators described as a well-planned burglary, the thieves then somehow opened a 6-foot-tall, 3-foot-wide steel safe with drills. The store’s insurance company at the time offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrests of the suspects.

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Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361