Police have arrested six people, including a suspected gunman, in the shooting of former Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz at a bar in the Dominican Republic.
Dominican Republic National Police detained Ramón Martínez Peréz, who reportedly goes by “Rolfi,” on Wednesday as part of a group that authorities said was offered 400,000 pesos (about $7,800) for a coordinated hit on the baseball legend, the Dominican Republic’s chief prosecutor, Jean Alain Rodríguez, said at a news conference. Rodríguez said Peréz admitted during interrogation that he was the person who shot Ortiz and coordinated the attack.
Ortiz, 43, was shot in the back Sunday night at Dial Bar and Lounge, a popular Santo Domingo bar. He suffered severe internal damage and was flown to a Boston hospital on Monday for treatment.
Authorities declined to give a motive for the shooting.
Witnesses said the shooting was carried out by two men on a motorcycle and two other groups of people in cars.
Authorities also apprehended Oliver Moisés Mirabal Acosta, Joel Rodríguez de la Cruz, Porfirio Ayendi Dechamps Vásquez, Reynaldo Rodríguez Valenzuela and Eddy Vladimir Feliz García. Feliz García, who’s accused of being the getaway driver, was beaten by fans of Ortiz and arrested right after the attack.
Prosecutors say that two men were seen on security footage talking with others in a gray Hyundai Accent and a Hyundai Sonata on a nearby street before two men mounted a motorcycle to ride toward the bar, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press. Mirabal Acosta was reportedly seen driving the Accent that night before getting on a motorcycle driven by Feliz García, who was charged Tuesday with being an accomplice to attempted murder.
Feliz García’s attorney told AP on Tuesday that his client is an innocent motorcycle taxi driver who was not aware his passenger was going to commit a crime.
Ortiz, a native of the Dominican Republic known as Big Papi, had his gallbladder and some of his intestines removed hours after the shooting, according to NBC. Ortiz’s wife, Tiffany Ortiz, told AP that her husband’s “condition is guarded, and he will remain in the ICU for the coming days, but he is making good progress toward recovery.”
This article has been updated with the names of the six arrested.