A man has been shot in the heart of Southampton in what police are describing as a "serious assault".

Forensics teams spent hours scouring roads in a residential neighbourhood on Friday after a man was shot.

Armed officers then rushed to arrest three men in Portswood later in the day in connection to the shooting.

Read more about that incident here.

The victim, a man in his 30s, was shot in the arm at around 10.08pm on Thursday night and rushed to hospital, where his injuries were found not to be life-threatening or life-changing.

Six marked vehicles attended the scene as forensics used instruments to investigate the crime scene.

READ MORE: City centre roads closed with police on scene - as it happened

Residents of the area were left in shock when police released a statement to confirm a man had been shot.

Linda Moore, 79, said “oh my gosh” when the news was broken to her by the Echo, saying you “don’t expect” things like this in the area.

“People don’t think we’re a good area, but in actual fact, there’s a lot of care in neighbours in the area. 

“I don’t recall anything like this happening.”

Forensics scoured the crime scene.Forensics scoured the crime scene. (Image: Stuart Martin) A 54-year-old woman walking her dog raised her eyebrows in disbelief, saying: “I’ve been here five years and that’s the first incident I’ve heard of someone being shot,” she said.

“You get a lot of rubbish round here. Not really any incidents, I live round the back so it’s quiet where I am.”

Ray Winton, who lives on one of the roads connected to the crime scene closures, was also shocked to hear the news.

READ MORE: Man shot in Southampton as police close city roads

He said it was “ridiculous” to think something like that could happen so close to his home. 

“If this did happen then you’d imagine we’d hear it happen,” Ray said.

“I’ve seen nothing on Facebook, nobody saying they’d heard something.”

Forensics worked with police inside the cordon.Forensics worked with police inside the cordon. (Image: Stuart Martin) Two men separately said that the incident was “typical Derby Road”, while another woman did recall previous bad experiences in the area.

The 62-year-old woman shook her head and said: “After 9pm, my shift finishes at 9pm, I’m a worker in the hospital. When we finish there’s a lot of boys standing around, it’s scary for us.
 

“It’s scary sometimes at night. I reach the road for quarter to 10 and I just put my head down and walk past because we are scared.”

READ MORE: Armed police respond to incident in Portswood - as it happened

Satvir Kaur, MP for Southampton Test, said she was “horrified” to hear of the inner-city shooting.

“I have spoken to police who are still investigating, but they have reassured me that it is an isolated incident, and that the community is safe,” she said in a statement to the Echo.

“There will be a continued police presence in the area for anyone concerned. If anyone has any information, please do get in touch with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary.

"Everyone deserves to feel safe in their homes and neighbourhoods, and its why this new government has increased police funding, promised more neighbourhood policing teams and given the police more powers.

“I'll keep pushing for these changes to take place quickly to make Southampton's streets safer."

READ MORE: Armed police respond to incident in Portswood - as it happened

The incident saw roads around Gurdwara Guru Tegh Bahadar Sahib closed off for much of the day, including St Marks Road, Northbrook Road, Nichols Road and Argyle Road.

A committee member confirmed no-one from the Sikh place of worship was involved with the incident.

Forensics attended throughout the day, wearing white overalls, surgical face masks, blue rubber gloves and hair nets.

Police communicated inside the cordon.Police communicated inside the cordon. (Image: Stuart Martin) They took pictures on the corner of St Marks Road and used an instrument on a tripod.

Taxis and normal drivers kept turning around the sharp corner that connects Derby Road and Northbrook Road, before realising that the path ahead was closed.

Officers told the drivers to turn around, and at one point a pedestrian walked underneath the tape and into the cordon.

Police told him to leave, shouting ‘you can’t just walk through a crime scene’.