The Boston Red Sox and Tiffany Ortiz released an update on David Ortiz‘s health Saturday, confirming he is no longer in the intensive care unit.
“David was moved out of the intensive care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital,” the statement reads. “He remains in good condition and continues to recover under the care of Drs. David King and Larry Ronan.”
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The retired Red Sox slugger, 43, was shot in Santo Domingo, the capital of his native Dominican Republic, on Sunday, June 9. A day later, the Red Sox sent a plane to the Dominican to take Ortiz back to Boston for further treatment.
The shooting remains under investigation. Ortiz was at a nightclub with television host Jhoel Lopez, and the shooting was first described as a botched robbery attempt. However, as the investigation continued, the story given by Dominican authorities continues to change. They first said the shooting was a murder-for-hire plot, but then suggested the national hero was not the intended target.
The suspected gunman, Rolfi Ferreira Cruz, was seen in a jail cell video provided to journalists saying Ortiz was not the target and he was “confused by the clothing,” reports CNN. Attorney General Jean Alain Rodrรญguez Sanchez also said Wednesday that auto repair shop owner Sixto David Fernandez, who is one of Ortiz’s friends and sat with him Sunday, was the intended hit.
According to the Boston Globe, Fernandez told Zol 106.5 on June 14 that he has “no enemies” and was not aware that people wanted to kill him. Authorities said it was Fernandez’ fugitive cousin, Victor Hugo Gomez Vasquez, who hired the hit squad.
“I don’t have a single enemy. I don’t know where these rumors came from,” Fernandez said, later noting that he bears no resemblance to Ortiz.
The confusing stories from authorities have led to some in the Dominican questioning the idea that Oritiz could be mistaken for anyone else. The 6’3, 250-pound star is a national hero in the Dominican Republic and in the U.S.
“They don’t look alike at all,” local sports reporter Bienvenido Rojas told CNN. “Some people will tell you that even a breastfeeding infant can identify David Ortiz.”
“How can this be a case of mistaken identity? It’s hard to believe that someone doesn’t recognize Big Papi, number 34,” Franklin Segura, a civil engineer, added.
Authorities believe Gomez Vasquez ordered the hit on Fernandez because his cousin turned him into law enforcement in 2011. But Rojas wondered why it would take him eight years to take revenge and why it would be done in such a public place.
“They could have carried this out elsewhere, in a place without cameras every 50 meters,” Rojas told CNN. “People want to know the truth. They are divided. I would say about 70 percent of people don’t believe the police version.”
Aside from Ferreira Cruz, authorities have arrested at least 10 others believed to be linked to the shooting.
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