LOS ANGELES (AP) — A state university where some 10,000 students were locked down for hours reopened Thursday as authorities tried to track two robbers who managed to escape a room-by-room manhunt.

"We're back to business as usual," said campus police Capt. John Brocke at California State University, Fullerton.

A week before final exams, the sprawling Orange County campus was swarmed by gun-toting officers after a car chase on Wednesday ended with two suspects in a robbery and shooting in neighboring Riverside County running onto the campus.

The two suspects were being sought and three others remained in custody — including one who was swarmed by dozens of officers after winding up at a recreation center where Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck was giving away toys to children.

Their identities were not immediately released.

Fullerton was one stop on the wild, three-county pursuit that began after five people tried to rob a pawn and jewelry shop in Moreno Valley. An employee was shot and critically injured in the holdup just after 3 p.m. Wednesday, Riverside County authorities said.

The robbers fled in a gray Lexus and were stopped in Fullerton when it rear-ended another car near the school. Two suspects were held, but three others ran off.

"They ran right at me. I decided to get out of their way. I did not know if they were armed or not," said student Shaun Kintaudi, who was on his way to take a test. "I decided it was best to run away from them and let the cops do their job."

During a seven-hour lockdown, students stayed connected to family, friends and media outlets via text messages, phone calls and Twitter from classrooms and dorm rooms, some with doors barricaded.

"We've made a makeshift bathroom out of trash cans, and whatever happens here stays here. That's the rule," Robert Pachorek, a student holed up in a classroom in Langsdorf Hall, told KABC-TV in a call from his cellphone.

Police believe at least one of the suspects fled into Mihaylo Hall, where some occupants were evacuated. SWAT officers cleared the hall room by room.

"We saw all these cops coming through with — I think they were like AKs or something. They were pretty big guns," student Nate Chu told KABC. "And they eventually told us we had to leave the campus." Continued...