Man in wheelchair dies in shootout

Monday, May 1, 2000 | 11:23 a.m.

A Sunday night shootout between a man in a wheelchair and a teenager sprayed a neighborhood with bullets and left the disabled man dead and the teen in critical condition at the hospital this morning.

Police believe Theodore Stewart rolled his wheelchair up to the area of Hawken and Fitzpatrick drives where an 18-year-old man was at a barbecue Sunday. Stewart and the teen apparently exchanged words, Sgt. Kevin Manning of Metro Police's homicide unit said.

Stewart apparently pulled his gun and fired at the teen. The teen then pulled out his own gun and returned fire, police said.

The shooting took place at about 6:20 p.m. in the intersection of Hawken and Fitzpatrick drives, near Walnut and Cheyenne avenues.

The 18-year-old, whose name was not released, fell in the intersection with multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to University Medical Center, where he remains in critical condition.

Stewart, pursued by bystanders, wheeled himself up Hawken about a half block before he collapsed. He died at the scene from the gunshot wound, Manning said.

Several stray rounds hit surrounding apartments, but no one else was hit by a bullet.

It was the 32nd homicide in Metro's jurisdiction this year.