Two people shot in Santa Rosa jewelry store robbery

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KGO) -- There was a shootout inside a Santa Rosa jewelry store. One employee was hit and one of the robbers was nearly killed. Police are still searching for a second armed suspect.

It happened just before 2 p.m. at Bennett Valley Jewelers in Santa Rosa.

Police arrived to find two people with gunshot wounds. One was identified as an employee of the store and the other was identified as a suspect in the robbery. Both went to a hospital. The employee appears to be OK. The suspect was shot in the chest and appears to have life-threatening injuries.

Riccardo Cattaneo owns a restaurant nearby and witnessed what happened. He told ABC7 News, "The suspect ran out of the store. He was told to stop... and the owner of the store told him to stop and it looked like the suspect had something underneath him and it was two shots fired. The owner of the jewelry store shot the suspect."

"It's just really traumatic to see people come in so aggressively like that, not caring about people's lives," Ty Visscher, the owner of BV Jewelers, said.

The search for the second robbery suspect moved to Annadel State Park and Spring Lake Regional Park.

Police say they're looking for a black male in his early to mid 20's with a large build, last seen wearing a white plaid shirt, blue jeans, blue tennis shoes. He also may have been injured, but police aren't certain. They searched Thursday afternoon with both helicopters and with police dogs.

Police did find the car they believe the suspects were driving. It is an older-model red mustang with a tan convertible roof.

Police are describing the suspect as being armed and dangerous. They are encouraging nearby residents to lock their doors.

This is not the first time this jewelry store has been hit. The mall has also been hit up as well.

Cattaneo said they're concerned that criminals may believe the shopping center is a soft target, however as we saw, some of those store owners are willing to shoot back.