Ottawa police are investigating after grocery store employees were allegedly tied up during a second attempted robbery at a Food Basics store in the city's west end.

Police say they found three employees bound when they arrived at 1465 Merivale Rd. after a burglary alarm went off just before 2 a.m. Monday.

Police are looking for two male suspects who were allegedly armed with guns at the time of the incident.

The suspects are described as white men in their early 20s. Both are English-speaking with an average build. One of the men is described as 5'10"; the other is 5'6".

Police investigate similar incident

Police say they are looking into whether this incident is related to a similar early morning robbery that occurred at the same grocery store on Dec. 8.

During that incident, the store was targeted just before 2:30 a.m. At the time, there were unconfirmed reports overnight staff were tied up during the robbery.

Anyone with information is asked to call Ottawa police at 613-236-1222 ext. 5116 or Crime Stoppers at 613-233-TIPS.