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Police have arrested three male juveniles — ages 16 and 17 — in connection with a series of robberies in Salt Lake County, including a Monday holdup at a Taylorsville gas station in which the clerk was shot and wounded.

The 21-year-old male clerk was shot after two suspects entered an Exxon station store at 2187 W. 4700 South at about 4:10 a.m. Monday. The suspects demanded and received cigarettes and an undisclosed amount of cash, police said. Then, at the end of the robbery, for undetermined reasons, one of the suspects shot the clerk multiple times.

The clerk initially was in critical condition, but his condition had been upgraded to fair, UPD Detective Ken Hansen said Tuesday.

On Monday night, West Valley City police officers received information — generated in part by news agencies posting surveillance images from the Exxon robbery — that led them identifying and arresting one of the suspects, Hansen said.

Early Tuesday morning, UPD detectives served search warrants on two locations in West Valley City, which led to the arrest of two more suspects including the alleged shooter of the clerk, Hansen said.

Police also seized a number of firearms.

In addition to the Exxon station, the three juveniles were allegedly involved in robberies at three other locations in the area: a Shell Station at 4018 W. 4100 South, a 7-Eleven store at 5400 W. 4100 South, and a Shell Station at 7210 W. 3500 South.

Hansen said it appears that the robberies were "both drug- and gang-involved."

The suspects were booked into the Salt Lake County Youth Detention Center.