TWO men, one armed with a gun, robbed a shop in east Belfast.
The men entered the shop on Belmont Church Road and threatened two members of staff at about 7am on Saturday.
Money and cigarettes were handed over to the men in two recycling boxes and a bag.
The staff members were left shaken by the ordeal.
Police are investigating a link to a report 20 minutes earlier that two men in a red BMW 5 series were acting suspiciously close to a newsagent's on Holywood Road.
One of the man involved in the shop robbery wore a grey and black jacket with a horizontal white stripe, a red and white balaclava, blue jeans, trainers and black gloves.
The second wore a black jacket with the hood up, a baseball cap, black tracksuit bottoms and white trainers with a scarf covering his face.