WESTMINSTER – A jewelry store employee shot at a suspected robber Thursday afternoon at the Asian Garden Mall, police said.

The incident occurred around 12:25 p.m. inside Tick Tock Watches at 9200 Bolsa Ave., said Westminster police Cmdr. Bill Collins.

Two men wearing ski-type masks and hooded sweatshirts entered the store, used a hammer to break glass on a display case and began removing merchandise, Westminster police Officer Rachel Archambault said. One witness reported that one of the men may have been armed with a gun, she added.

A store employee pulled out a weapon and fired two shots at the robbers, Collins said.

The robbers fled the store, possibly with some merchandise, but police don’t know whether either was struck by the gunfire.

It wasn’t immediately clear if any customers were in the store when the robbery occurred.

Police believe the robbers escaped in a Chevy van, which investigators discovered abandoned near Bishop Place and Moran Street, less than a half mile away from the jewelry store.

Authorities suspect that the robbers got into a second getaway vehicle, which they described as a white or light-colored minivan, before fleeing.

A detailed description of the robbers was not available late Thursday afternoon.

It wasn’t the first time that a robbery at Tick Tock Watches has ended in gunfire.

In September, a robber posing as a customer took a watch worth more than $9,000 and fled. The owner chased after him, and following a brief struggle, the owner fired several shots. No one was struck, and the robber drove away.

An attempted takeover-style robbery in July 2012 resulted in an employee shooting one man in the face. Four men were arrested in connection with that robbery.

After these incidents, police increased patrols in the area and reached out to Little Saigon business owners.

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