Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : AT THE SCENE : Jewelry Store Robbery Try Turns Into Shootout

James Barr was leery from the start, and he wasn’t far from his handgun when the two young men who entered his family’s La Habra jewelry store began asking for directions to a gas station Wednesday morning.

When he saw one of the men reach for his gun, Barr was ready. At least 12 shots were fired on both sides, and accomplices of the two gunmen attempted to smash the front display window with sledgehammers.

By the time police arrived, the store on Imperial Highway looked like a battle zone.

Barr and witnesses said it looked like one of the men was hit; he struggled to a waiting getaway car and had to be helped in. The specially manufactured store window glass didn’t shatter under the sledgehammers, and the five men fled empty handed.

Police found the car, which proved to have been stolen from North Hollywood, abandoned with its engine still running a short distance away. A door-to-door search, complete with trained police dogs and a helicopter, ensued but to no avail.