SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The mystery behind the killing of 16-year-old Antonio Gullotto on Syracuse’s North Side on Dec. 17 points to a beat-down corner store across the street from where the teen was shot.

Police haven’t said why they arrested Nashwan Hamood, 30, and Amir Homran, 20, on murder charges. Court records have few details. Police have withheld the suspects' mugshots.

But Syracuse.com has learned from the store’s former owner that Hamood is the owner and Homran a clerk at the Top One Market, 835 Park St., across the street from where Gullotto was killed.

Gullotto’s mother told Syracuse.com that her son was shot by the two because he stole $100 in cash from the store about a month before the shooting. She said her son didn’t deserve what happened, and neither did her family, which is devastated by his sudden loss.

Witnesses said the pair entered the apartment at 165 John St., where Gullotto was visiting a friend, and opened fire on Gullotto just as he opened the door.

He was struck once in the right temple and died within minutes as friends cradled his head, witnesses said.

Someone sprayed "Tone," the nickname of Antonio Gullotto, 16, on the front of the store, which has also been vandalized.

Neighbors of the store have described it as a nuisance, saying the owner was known to buy and sell stolen property and “spike,” slang for synthetic marijuana. Hamood’s nickname is “Rambo,” according to neighbors.

The store has been closed since the arrests and some in the area have taken out their anger on the shop. Police were called to the store around 10:15 p.m. on Dec. 22 regarding a report of group of people vandalizing the place.

That alleged vandalism occurred as a vigil for Gullotto was happening across the street. The teen’s friends and family gathered at the apartment building with bright red balloons -- the teen’s favorite color, his mom said -- and T-shirts with his face on them. They played his favorite music loudly.

The store’s windows are cracked behind steel mesh, and posters have been ripped off the outside. The store was apparently vandalized inside, as well. The cash register hangs from its cord over the counter; candy and beef jerky are strewn across the floor; shelves are toppled or pushed together. Someone has spray-painted “Tone,” Gullotto’s nickname, on the front wall of the store.

Despite the disarray, a rainbow “open” sign was still lit Sunday morning.

The store sold lottery tickets but no alcohol. It also had cell phones and other electronics for sale behind a glass case, and the shelves were often sparse, neighbors said.

Gullotto’s death is part of a wave of violence against young people here, including the shooting death in October of 12-year-old James Springer III, who was shot and killed across the street from the corner store. Springer would sometimes sell at the Top One Market some electronics he stole from the mall, according to Springer’s stepmother, Wendy Voyles.

The apartment building where Gullotto and Springer were killed is set to be demolished early next year, and the victims' families said they hope the store will go with it.

“You knock this house down, you better knock that store down, too,” said Springer’s uncle, Michael Johnson, who knew Gullotto. “He killed this kid over $100.”

It appears the suspects did not report a robbery at the store. There is no mention of a reported robbery there within the last several months, according to a police blotter.

Hamood bought the store from Ali Nagi about 10 months ago, Nagi told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. Hamood came from California to buy the store, Nagi said. Hamood employed Amir Homran at the store, Nagi said.

Nagi said police questioned him in the days after Gullotto’s death. He said officers showed him photos of the suspects and asked him about the sale.

It’s not clear how Hamood and Homran were identified by police. They were arrested Dec. 18, the day after Gullotto’s death.

Hamood knew Nagi’s nephew, and Nagi’s nephew told Hamood about the business opportunity in Syracuse, Nagi said. Hamood owned a store called Golden Pyramids Smoke Shop in San Lorenzo, Calif., according to business records.

Nagi wanted to sell the store because he was tired of the neighborhood, he said. He was never robbed there, but he felt it was unsafe. At least one employee has been robbed at gunpoint in recent years.

“I didn’t want my kids there, so I decided to sell it,” Nagi said, who owns at least one other convenience store in Syracuse.

Nagi bought the store about two years ago and renamed it Syracuse Grocery and Deli. He bought it from Said Alfayoumi, who called it the Blue Market, according to business records.

Nagi said Hamood still owes him $2,500, after slowly making payments of $500 at a time.

“We were almost done,” Nagi said, “but then he got this problem.”