Regional police are searching for three men in connection to a pharmacy robbery in Waterloo.

The alleged incident happened in the area of Erb Street and Amos Avenue at 2:15 p.m. on Friday.

Police say the three men went into a pharmacy with a handgun and demanded cash as well as narcotics.

They took off in a black, four-door Chevrolet sedan.

They're described as Black and were last seen wearing surgical masks and blue gloves.

A few hours later, police say two men robbed a business in Kitchner with a gun.

It does show that we have an increase in violent crime. We have been seeing that over the last year," said Const. Melissa Quarrie of Waterloo regional police. "Our robbery team is continuing to investigate both the incident at Ottawa Street and the incident at the pharmacy in Kitchener earlier in the day.

"Part of the investigation will be to explore if there are any connections between those incidents or other incidents that we've seen in our community."

Police say that any residents who are in a situation where a robbery is taking place should comply with demands and not risk their personal safety.