GOLD HILL — Two masked men ordered patrons to the floor at gunpoint Wednesday during a robbery at a downtown bank, police said.

The bandits, who wore clear masks with black markings during the robbery, stormed into the Washington Mutual bank branch in the 600 block of Second Avenue at about 1:30 p.m., said Gold Hill Police Chief Dean Muchow.

Officers from several Rogue Valley police agencies sped to the Gold Hill area minutes after the robbery was reported.

Authorities were still searching late Wednesday for the robbers, who ran from the bank and stepped into what witnesses described as a bright white, mid-sized car with chrome wheels and a loud after- market exhaust.

Gold Hill resident Mark Baird was standing in line waiting to cash a check when the men entered the bank.

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"I thought it was a joke or a hoax because they came in dressed like Halloween," Baird said. "The one guy had pepper spray and I thought about taking him down. I wasn’t scared until I saw the gun. When I finally realized it wasn’t a hoax, I said, ‘I’m done’ and got down on the floor."

Muchow said "four or five" customers were inside the bank when the masked men stormed in.

Both robbers are white males in their 20s with slender builds. One suspect is described as 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing approximately 160 to 180 pounds. He was wearing a wig with reddish-brown shoulder-length hair. The other man was described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing between 150 and 180 pounds. He was wearing a black wig with long dread-locked hair. Both men wore dark gray long- sleeved sweatshirts with open necks, black gloves and white athletic shoes.

A witness who saw both men pull off their disguises as they fled the bank said they both had short, well-trimmed dark hair, Jackson County sheriff’s Det. Colin Fagan said.

Muchow believes the bandits could be the same people responsible for a string of armed robberies this year in the Rogue Valley. However, Medford police Lt. Tim George and Fagan stressed they are not ready to suggest a connection between Thursday’s heist and the previous robberies.

"It’s way too early in the game to make that kind of assumption," George said.

Since late February, masked men carrying handguns have robbed three Medford taverns, five Purple Parrot stores in Medford and Grants Pass, and banks in Medford and Dorris, Calif.

In the hours following Wednesday’s bank robbery, police fanned out along city streets, other local roads and Interstate 5 in search of the suspects’ car. A helicopter contracted for use by the Jackson County sheriff’s department circled the area from the air during the hunt. Oregon State Police investigators, Medford police detectives and FBI officials are assisting in the investigation, Muchow said.

Reach reporter Jack Moran at 776-4459, or e-mail jmoran@mailtribune.com.