SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A tobacco shop owner who shot and badly injured a would-be robber Friday night at his North Side store also shot at and possibly injured a would-be robber six weeks ago at the same shop at the same time of night.

The owner of Alibaba Market on Wolf Street confirmed that he'd been involved in two shootings in as many months during a brief interview at his store on Saturday afternoon.

He declined Saturday to comment more about the shootings, saying he was shaken up from having nearly killed a man who brandished a gun at him in a robbery fewer than 24 hours earlier.

But he did say he intends to sell his store.

"It's too much," he said.

And he said police had thanked him for taking a violent criminal off the streets.

The suspect in the robbery from Friday night has not been identified or charged yet; he's recovering in the hospital from surgery due to gunshot wounds, police said.

The robber armed with a handgun entered the Alibaba Market at 419 Wolf St., around 7:45 p.m. on Friday and tried to rob the store, police said

The owner shot the suspect, who fled on foot and was found soon after with gunshot wounds about a tenth of a mile away, police said.

Syracuse.com is not identifying the owner involved in both shootings as he has not been charged with a crime. Police have said he won't face charges in the Friday shooting.

The owner declined to comment in detail about the previous shooting, as well, but neighbors and friends of his told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard what they saw Oct. 30 and what the owner had told them about the first shooting.

Syracuse police did not announce an arrest in the Oct. 30 case or issue a news release, which is unusual in cases where shots are fired or someone is arrested in a robbery.

Police said there is a record of a "robbery" at the Alibaba Market at 7:25 p.m. on Oct. 30, but the case is "sealed," said spokesman Sgt. Richard Helterline.

A review of arrests in the week after Oct. 30 shows no one arrested for robbery, except for an unrelated robbery.

Helterline said the record of the Oct. 30 robbery was sealed by the police department, but that could have been at the direction of a judge or the District Attorney's Office. He did not know why it was sealed and said he was unaware of a shooting that day.

Noel Baker, who lives near the store, said he's a friend of the owner's. Neighbors said the owner is often seen outside the store sweeping, his Glock handgun strapped to his hip.

"The guy's armed," Baker said. "Leave him alone."

On Oct. 30, Baker was inside watching TV when he heard five or six gunshots followed by tires squealing. He stepped outside and saw a cash register in the parking lot. He said he spoke to the owner the next day about what had happened.

The owner told Baker that two men had entered the store wearing masks and stole the register. The owner followed them out of the store to get it back, Baker said. At least one of the robbers lost his mask, the owner told Baker.

The robbers dropped the register and jumped into a getaway vehicle and started backing toward the owner. The owner told Baker that the driver of the vehicle was steering toward him, so he opened fire, Baker said.

"I guess they tried to run him over with the car, and that's when he f***ing emptied his gun," Baker said.

The owner fired at the driver through the back window, and the driver sped away, the owner told Baker.

Baker said the owner told him that the robbers later called the police, confessed to the robbery and sought medical attention. One of the robbers had a gunshot wound to the hip, the owner told Baker.

The owner declined to comment on whether he had hit anyone he shot at in the Oct. 30 robbery.

Baker and another neighbor -- who declined to be identified but said he got the same account of the Oct. 30 robbery from the owner -- said police returned the owner's weapon in the days after the failed robbery.

"Good thing he got it back in time," Baker said.

Both neighbors said they didn't remember if the owner said the robbers on Oct. 30 were armed. But they believed the owner when he said he felt threatened by the driver of their getaway vehicle.

"He was pretty shook up," Baker said.

Baker said he wondered why the Oct. 30 shooting never made the news, saying a public announcement might have discouraged other robbers from trying to mess with the owner like they did on Friday.

On Saturday, the owner reopened his shop around 3:15 p.m., about 20 hours after the shooting.

Inside, a TV screen appeared to have a bullet hole in its top left corner.