One man dead in shootout

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2000 | 11:18 a.m.

Two young men apparently had a shootout in a West Charleston Boulevard apartment complex late Tuesday, leaving one man dead and the other injured, Metro Police said.

A 21-year-old man was found dead, lying face down in the parking lot of the complex on Charleston near Torrey Pines Drive about 11:25 p.m. A semi-automatic handgun was found next to him, said Lt. Wayne Petersen of Metro's homicide unit.

A short time later, a 17-year-old was found in a nearby apartment with a gunshot wound in the knee. The teen was being treated at University Medical Center this morning for the non-life-threatening wound.

"We don't know how or why the gun fight started," Petersen said. "One man is dead and the other isn't talking."

Witnesses told police they saw someone -- other than the teen -- hiding a gun in some bushes across the street from the complex. Police found the gun.

The 21-year-old man's name was not released this morning.

In an unrelated shooting, 18-year-old Jorge Contreras who was shot Dec. 16 in the 800 block of North 21st Street, died Monday.

Contreras was shot several times about 9:20 p.m. as he was walking on the street. He told officers the night of the shooting he was approached by a man he didn't know with a rifle. The gunman started shooting for no apparent reason.

Petersen said before Contreras died he was able to give some more information about a suspect to detectives. Police have not made an arrest.