Decatur County investigators are searching for suspects in an attempted armed robbery at a local convenience store after both the attempted robber and almost robbed store owner exchanged fire.

Thursday evening at the A & A convenience store off of Georgia 97 South, two men in hoodies and masks ran into the store, and one fired a gun at the owner behind the counter, said Decatur County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Robert Humphrey.

One of the men then jumped the counter when the owner produced a gun and shot at the suspects about four times.

Humphrey said that the men ran without taking any money or goods, but that they grabbed a part-time employee as a hostage on their way out of the store.

It is believed that a female was driving a getaway car.

The suspects took what money the hostage had on him, and he was released unharmed on the side of the road, about three miles south of the store in the area of Southlands Forest.

Humphrey said that investigators are following leads in Gadsden County, Florida, where the suspects are believed to have fled to after the attempted robbery.