DAMION Omar Coleman Hamilton, the man who was shot dead by cops Friday after being identified as the main suspect in a deadly attack on a police patrol in St Catherine, is the son of a retired policeman, the Jamaica Observer has been reliably informed.

Hamilton, who was deported from Canada, was killed in what police said was an exchange of gunfire at a house in Cooreville Gardens, St Andrew.

Family members who were informed about his demise Friday afternoon declined to comment when asked what drove the 39-year-old into a life of crime, bringing disgrace to his family.

A source told the Sunday Observer that Hamilton had an estranged relationship with his father, but did not want to comment further.

The deportee, who was said to be the head of a criminal outfit that killed two policemen in Horizon Park, off Old Harbour Road in Spanish Town, St Catherine, was cut down by lawmen after he escaped a police dragnet and sought refuge at a house in Cooreville Gardens. Hamilton, who had fled St Catherine leaving an M16 rifle, is reported to have tested his courage again in Cooreville when he fired at police with a 9mm pistol, injuring two of them.

Our source said Hamilton was thrown out of Canada after police there finally nabbed him for gun-related crimes . He was also accused of stabbing and injuring a family member previously in a dispute.

Having gone to Canada to join his family, Hamilton, said our source, didn’t take long to get involved with the criminal underworld.

He got his schooling at Harewood All-Age and resided at Gobay, just outside Riversdale district in St Catherine.

According to the Sunday Observer source, Hamilton, unlike a number of other deportees, did not have to roam the streets and depend on handouts or live in a shelter, as friends and relatives in Canada ensured he had a place to live at Horizon Park, provided him with a motor car, and made sure that he didn’t go hungry.

It is unclear how he amassed funds that he used to acquire weapons and finance his lifestyle as well as that of his cronies.

Outside of that, he once operated a barber shop in Bog Walk, St Catherine, the Sunday Observer was told.

Hamilton, said our source, may have received radical training in the criminal underworld in Canada. However, the source could not say which radical group he may have been working with.