WEST MELBOURNE, Fla. -- Police countywide are on the hunt for two masked men who robbed an Office Depot store Tuesday morning, leaving behind three shaken employees hiding in a manager's office.

A dozen, camouflaged members of the Brevard County sheriffs SWAT team burst through the front door about 9:15 a.m. and retrieved the employees from the store at 1131 W. New Haven Ave.

"They got them all out. The one employee that was injured was taken to the hospital for treatment," Cmdr. Steve Wilkinson of the West Melbourne Police Department told Local 6 News partner Florida Today. "We didn't find (the robbers) in the store."

Wilkinson added that police were now searching the surrounding area for the two robbers who are now believed to have escaped from the store with an undisclosed amount of money before police arrived. Police said the robbers got away with a wallet belonging to one of the employees.

Police are also looking at the possibility the two men -- wearing masks and gloves in the West Melbourne heist -- may have been involved in an earlier robbery of a CVS Pharmacy store in Indialantic.

"There’s a good possibility they're connected. We're looking into that now," Wilkinson said.

The West Melbourne robbery took place just after 6 a.m. One of the employees was pistol-whipped with a handgun, receiving a cut to the head while the other robber held the others at bay with a knife, police said.

West Melbourne police were called to the scene about 6:35 a.m., quickly posting officers with assault rifles around the perimeter.

Police from Melbourne and Melbourne Village poured into the area, blocking off tracking on the major commercial boulevard as sheriff's SWAT team members began arriving. Two trained sharpshooters from the sheriff's elite tactical team were perched atop Parker Health Care, a medical supply shop directly across from the Office Depot store. The sheriff's helicopter circled overhead.

"It was all quarantined off when I got here," said Steve Seidl, a manager at the store. "I usually get here an hour after everybody else. It's luck, I guess."

Seidl was visibly worried, but was unaware of what was going on.

"I know about as much as you do. There's three of them in there," he said of the number of co-workers in the store. "You're scared for them," he said.

The SWAT members -- carrying assault rifles -- were seen earlier laying what appeared to be a map or floor plan across the front end of an armored tanker. Moments later the tactical team members eased across the front wall of the store on both sides toward the glass door entrance. The employees, still in their uniforms, were led out the back with their hands up.

No shots were fired.

The roadway was reopened to traffic before 10 a.m. after SWAT team members meticulously searched and cleared every section of the Office Depot store.

No one else was found inside the store. Officers outside in the parking lot later drew their weapons and dogs at their side, searched three vehicles in the lot.

Across the street, about two dozen residents stood and watched the situation unfold.

"I just feel really bad for those people inside," said Dean Sharinos, who works for Parker HealthCare. "This is West Melbourne -- nothing is supposed to happen here."

Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to call police.