Source: Maddie Meyer / Getty
This story just gets weirder and weirder. In what sounded like the telenovela plot, retired Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was believed to be the target of an assassination attempt in his home country. ABC News reports that is not the case and that Ortiz’s friend was the intended target of the hit earlier this in the month in the Dominican Republic.
Wait, what?
Ortiz’s friend, Sixto David Fernandez, who was seated right next to him and dressed similarly was revealed to be the target of the hit. Police confirmed Fernandez was supposed to catch the struggle hitman’s bullet because the individuals detained all had a photo of Fernandez on their person.
This follows the news of Rolfi Ferreira Cruz, 25, admitting to shooting the retired baseball player in the back while he was at the Dial Bar and Lounge on June 9. Cruz also copped to making a mistake, saying Ortiz was not the man he was hired to kill. An earlier report from TMZ indicates that six people were paid 400,000 pesos, or about less than $8,000, to carry out the hit. The D.R. authorities have named 13 suspects involved.
Per TMZ:
“As we previously reported, Ortiz was shot in the back on Sunday night as he was sitting in an outside patio area of a popular Dominican Republic nightclub.
D.R. cops say two young men drove up to the scene on a motorcycle … when one of them got off to fire a single bullet into the Red Sox legend’s lower back.
Cops say the guys tried to flee the scene on the bike afterward … but when it fell to the pavement — they tried to make a run for it on foot.”
A search is still underway for Victor Hugo Gomez and Alberto Rodriguez Mota, who police believe are responsible for orchestrating the failed hit. David Ortiz is expected to make a full recovery after undergoing two surgeries days after being shot by Cruz.
https://twitter.com/MarlyRiveraESPN/status/1138452465802731520
