Two men robbing jewerly store shot by owner

LAFAYETTE, Calif. -- Two men who were robbing a jewelry store in Lafayette on Friday afternoon were shot at by the store's owner, a Contra Costa County sheriff's spokesman said today.

The robbery was reported at about 1:45 p.m. Friday at Prive Manufacturing Jewelers, a store located at 3557 Mt. Diablo Blvd., sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said.

Two suspects wearing masks came into the store and started smashing display cases. The owner of the store, who thought he heard shots fired in the store, took out a gun and fired two shots at the suspects, Lee said.

One of the men appeared to have been hit by the gunfire, and the suspects fled in a waiting car that was driven by a third suspect, according to Lee.

The suspect vehicle collided with another car while fleeing, but the suspects were still able to get away, Lee said.

Lee did not know if anything was taken from the store, but the owner of the store, who did not want to give his name, said jewelry was taken during the robbery.

About a half hour later, the sheriff's office received a call from Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley, where a 24-year-old man had arrived with gunshot wounds.

Deputies responded to the hospital and are trying to confirm whether the man is one of the robbery suspects, Lee said.

The owner said sheriff's investigators told him the man at the hospital claimed he had been shot in Oakland.

No other suspect information was available as of this afternoon, Lee said.

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