Los Angeles police were looking for two men, one of whom was armed, who made off with jewelry Thursday from the Macy’s at the Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks, authorities said.

The pair apparently entered the department store’s jewelry section at about 10:35 a.m., smashed a display case and took an “unknown amount” of merchandise, said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Drake Madison. One of the suspects brandished a handgun, he said.

Los Angeles police respond to a smash-and-grab robbery at the Macy’s at Westfield’s Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks on Thursday , Nov. 30, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Los Angeles police respond to a smash-and-grab robbery at the Macy’s at Westfield’s Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks on Thursday , Nov. 30, 2017. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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A smashed Gucci watch display is seen Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017, after an armed robbery at Macy’s at Westfield Fashion Square Sherman Oaks. Two robbers got away. (Photo courtesy of Capt. Lillian L. Carranza, LAPD Van Nuys Division)

LAPD detectives investigate the cordoned-off area where a Gucci watch counter was smashed Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017, by armed robbers at the Macy’s at Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks. (Photo by Brenda Gazzar/Los Angeles Daily News)

LAPD Capt., Lillian Carranza addresses the media at Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



LAPD police officers investigate a robbery in Macy’s at Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Lt. Gregory Hoyte of LAPD’s Van Nuys Division detectives said the suspects used a hammer to smash a display case that included Gucci watches and were wearing masks at the time of the incident.

“It’s a brazen armed robbery in the middle of the day in the mall,” Hoyte said. “There was a weapon seen. It’s a blessing that there were no injuries.”

While initially shots were believed to have been fired during the robbery, that was later determined not to be true, Madison said. Van Nuys Division Capt. Lillian Carranza echoed that on Twitter.

Carranza described the incident as “an armed robbery” and “smash and grab on the second floor of the Macy’s.” The glass shattering sounded like “shots being fired,” she said.

LAPD Capt. Lillian Carranza on armed burglary at Macy's in Sherman Oaks. pic.twitter.com/qsR3CbGSze — Brenda Gazzar (@bgazzar) November 30, 2017

The suspects reportedly exited the mall on its east end, and police responded to the scene at Riverside Drive near Woodman Avenue.

Police were searching for a small white or silver SUV and said the suspects are believed to have light skin.

Carranza said there are “a lot of video cameras in the Van Nuys area in the mall, very high quality video,” but she has not had a chance to view the footage.

The getaway was made in a “vehicle that was awaiting,” and she is “confident” the suspects will be identified using the license plate readers in the area, Carranza added.

Some 75 “responders,” including from the fire and police departments, were on the scene within two minutes, she added.

LAPD has cordoned off area where a Gucci watch counter was smashed this morning by armed robbers at the Macy's in Sherman Oaks. pic.twitter.com/QxyIHsWzLn — Brenda Gazzar (@bgazzar) November 30, 2017

Some employees and customers were put into a secure location during the incident until officers arrived, Hoyte said.

One store employee, who did not give her name, said she was on the first floor when they heard screaming coming from the second floor and yells that a man had a gun. A group of them ran and hid in the back room for at least 10 to 15 minutes, she said.

“Everybody ran out,” she said. “It was scary.”

Some customers said they were surprised that such a brazen attack could happen at the popular department store.

“I’m shocked because it’s Sherman Oaks and I come here all the time and nothing like this ever happens here,” said Diane Rosas, a Realtor who lives in the same community.

Her colleague, Melissa Zee, added that she lets her teenage daughter come to the mall with her friends by themselves and was wondering if she should reconsider in light of Thursday’s armed robbery.

“They’re always here at the mall because we feel it’s safe and now ….I mean, that’s scary,” she said.

Barry Greene of Valley Village said he could not enter the parking lot from Riverside Drive around the time the robbery happened and had to go around to Hazeltine Avenue. He saw the police and news trucks but did not know what had happened until he walked inside the Macy’s a bit later.

“It’s scary but this is the time of year that things happen like this,” said Greene, who was returning a pair of shoes for his wife.

Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to call Van Nuys detectives 818-374-0040.

Staff writer Elizabeth Chou contributed to this report.