An east Erie gas station was the scene of a second crime in a little more than 12 hours when police said five men robbed the business of cash and tobacco products early this morning.

The armed robbery happened at the Country Fair store at 957 E. 26th St. at about 12:05 a.m., Erie Police Chief Steve Franklin said.

Two men carrying guns confronted the store’s private security guard outside of the store and forced him inside, where three other men appeared and rounded up the store employees, Franklin said. The men took an undetermined amount of money from the store’s cash registers, along with cigarettes and other tobacco products, he said.

The robbers were last seen heading south on East Avenue, Franklin said.

The robbery occurred as Erie police continued their investigation into a shooting on the west side of the gas station property that was reported at 11:50 a.m. Monday.

A 22-year-old man, whom police have not identified, was shot in the arm and the buttocks after he and another man began fighting, police said.

The victim, the shooter and a man who was with the shooter then ran off in different directions, police said.

The victim is being treated at UPMC Hamot, Franklin said.

Erie police detectives are interviewing numerous witnesses and are reviewing surveillance video from the County Fair store in their search for suspects in the case, police said this morning.