Authorities are searching for two suspects who wore costume masks as they robbed and assaulted an employee and customer at a Route 44 jewelry store at gunpoint, police said.

The armed robbery happened at Trends Jewelers on Route 44 at about 7 p.m. Friday, police said.

Police responded to the store after the owner told police he became suspicious when he called the store and someone other than one of his employees answered the line.

Police said two men, one wearing a clown mask and the other wearing a mask as seen in the movie “Scream,” brandished a gun and struck a store employee, then forced the employee to fill a sack with silver jewelry and an undisclosed amount of money.

The men also brandished the gun to a customer as he tried to leave the store. Police said the men “roughed up, kicked and robbed” the customer.

Police would not discuss the nature of their injuries or further details on the robbery on Sunday.

The robbers left the store through a back door, police said.

Witnesses told police they saw a black SUV similar to a Lincoln Navigator fleeing the parking lot.