Shooting near Cathedral of St. Raymond leaves one dead, one wounded and one jailed

A man and woman were shot in broad daylight Friday afternoon on a sidewalk a block from the Cathedral of St. Raymond.

Witnesses told of seeing two men and a woman arguing on Sherwood Place just feet from Raynor Avenue when one of the men pulled out a handgun and opened fire on the other man and the woman about 2 p.m.

The man, Quentin Woods, 38, fell to the ground, and the woman walked to the corner, witnesses said.

“I don’t think she knew she was shot,” said Jennifer Baranski of Joliet. “I think she was in shock.”

When she reached the corner, her shirt turned red, Baranski said.

“You just could see the blood starting to take over,” she said.

“She was just standing there bleeding,” said a woman who asked to be identified only by her first name, Myra.

The wounded 36-year-old woman was taken to AMITA St. Joseph Medical Center, where she was in good condition Friday night, Joliet police Deputy Chief Darrell Gavin said.

About two hours after the woman was wounded and Woods was killed, police took a suspect into custody, Gavin said.

By late Friday, the suspect, Matthew Rutledge, 37, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, Gavin said.

Rutledge lives on the same street where he shot Woods and the woman, Gavin said.

“These people knew each other. It was basically a disagreement that escalated into what happened,” he said.

“They were familiar with each other, and they had a disagreement that turned deadly.”

Both Baranski and Myra said they heard about eight shots fired before they saw the man on the ground and the bleeding woman walk to the corner.

“There were so many shots,” Myra said.

Gavin said Woods was shot “multiple times” and the woman was shot once.

Police tracked down Rutledge and arrested him without incident, Gavin said.

“We had an idea where he was at,” Gavin said. “We were able to peaceably take him into custody.”

Woods remained on the sidewalk under a white sheet well after the shooting.

An autopsy performed Saturday revealed Woods suffered multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Will County Coroner’s Office.

Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner said detectives “did a great job,” adding, “It was a tough scene.”

“We did recover the handgun,” Roechner said.

Danielle Ortega, who lives on Raynor near Sherwood, said that when she left to pick up her 7-year-old son from nearby Farragut School, there was no sign of violence or police activity.

“Literally nothing,” Ortega said.

“Right when I pulled into Farragut, I heard the sirens and everything,” Ortega said.

And by the time she returned home, she said, the police were everywhere.

“This is like stuff you see on ‘CSI,’ ” Ortega said, noting that it’s not something she was used to seeing in her neighborhood.

“No [you] never do,” she said. “Nothing ever happens here.”

While Woods’ body still was under the sheet on the sidewalk, two men and a woman approached from the direction of Black Road. One of the men tried to get past the crime scene tape and make his way toward the body but was stopped by police.

An officer blocking the man’s path told him, “I don’t even know who it is.”