Advertisement

David Ortiz wasn't intended target of Dominican Republic shooting, police say

By Danielle Haynes
David Ortiz told police he didn't know why anyone would want to target him. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
David Ortiz told police he didn't know why anyone would want to target him. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

June 19 (UPI) -- Former Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was not the intended target of a shooting earlier this month in his native Dominican Republic, officials said Wednesday.

Dominican Republic Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez said the hitmen were hired to kill Ortiz's friend, Sixto David Fernandez, instead.

Advertisement

The gunman allegedly told police he got confused inside the nightclub where he shot Ortiz on June 9. Ortiz and Fernandez were sitting together at a table at the moment of the shooting.

Ortiz told Rodriguez he didn't know why anyone would want to shoot him.

Police in the Dominican Republic are searching for Victor Hugo Gomez Vasquez and Alberto Rodriguez Mota, who they believed arranged the shooting plot.

Police have arrested and charged 11 suspects in the plot.

On Tuesday, Ortiz's wife, Tiffany Ortiz, said doctors upgraded the former slugger's condition to "good." He underwent surgery in the Dominican Republic before the Red Sox chartered a plane to bring him back to Boston. There he underwent another procedure.

Latest Headlines