THE man gunned down in a drug-related shooting in Southampton had a violent past, the Daily Echo can reveal today.

Jamal Jones – whose nickname was Lucky – was no stranger to police, having been put behind bars for threatening a disabled woman with a knife in her own home as he tried to rob her.

He had also been expelled from school for assaulting a teacher.

Aged just 19 at the time he was sentenced for the attempted robbery, Jones already had 11 previous convictions for 19 offences.

Last night detectives investigating his killing were still quizzing four suspects arrested at the weekend after Southampton magistrates granted an extension for questioning to continue.

A fifth suspect, a 21-year-old woman, was bailed pending further inquiries.

Post-mortem results yesterday revealed the 23-year-old, of Lyon Street, who was killed on Saturday morning in a flat in St Mary Street, died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Detectives confirmed that the incident was drug-related.

The shooting brought terror to the streets of St Mary’s as teams of armed officers swarmed the area. Initially they ordered residents to stay indoors amid fears a gunman was at large.

The Daily Echo can today reveal that Jones had moved to Southampton from London for a fresh start after being expelled from school.

However it was not long before he was in trouble with the law.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Jones jumped through the window of the disabled woman’s home and tried to rob her.

The victim, who had one leg and was in a wheelchair, was left terrified that Jones was going to kill her after he threatened: “Don’t think I won’t stick this in you.”

The court heard how Jones demanded money, pulling cushions off the sofa, searching handbags and repeatedly saying “Where’s your money? I know you have some”.

He was jailed for 50 months in 2009. Now four years later he is the victim and forensic teams spent yesterday combing St Mary’s for further clues to Saturday morning’s shooting.

Specially trained dogs were deployed to sniff out the weapon, believed to be a handgun, while officers searched potential hiding places.

This included searching recycling bins in a nearby housing estate, meticulously sifting through waste which was transferred to other bins to make sure nothing slipped the net.

One resident looking on said: “It’s absolutely disgusting – where do these people get their firearms from?”

Meanwhile a heavy police presence was kept up in the area, with police officers and police community support officers on bikes, on foot and in squad cars.

Beat officer David King said: “We are out at the moment to offer reassurances to the local community.”

Talk in St Mary Street still surrounded the dramatic events two days before, which saw a large section of the street cordoned off.

Parked in a pedestrianised square for all to see was a Hampshire police van emblazoned with “Operation Fortress”, a major £2m crackdown launched amid concerns of an escalation of drug-related violence across Southampton as London-based dealers descended on the city to ply their trade.

Amid the hustle and bustle of Saturday morning, the busiest time of week with a street market in full flow, shop owners on St Mary Street did not hear the shot that killed Jones.

For Asudullah Aqbari, who runs St Mary’s Cash and Carry, he said the first he knew about it was when he saw armed police.

He said: “I was scared because they had guns. They came and said something serious had happened. It was something in the flat. I was shocked.”

Balvinder Singh, 33, who runs H and R Computers, said: “I was sitting in my shop and suddenly there were loads of police.

“They said there had been a shooting and they told me to go into a shop and not to come out.

“I heard someone screaming from the flat. I could not hear what it was but it very loud – it was a woman screaming.”

Mr Singh said he recognised Jones from the photograph in the Daily Echo as someone who would be out and about the high street. He said: “It is so, so sad.”

Another shopkeeper described the shock amid a tight knit multicultural community. He added: “It is tragic because some mother will be mourning at the moment.”

Meanwhile residents who lived in the block where Jones was killed were spending their third night in hotel accommodation arranged by police after they evacuated them to help preserve the crime scene.

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