Eleven days after being shot in the back in his native Dominican Republic, Red Sox legend David Ortiz is making progress with his recovery at a Boston hospital. Ortiz's wife, Tiffany, announced Tuesday that his condition was upgraded to "good." On Wednesday police officials in the Dominican Republic held a press conference to provide an update on the progress of their investigation.
Attorney general Jean Alain Rodriguez said Ortiz was not the intended target of the attack.
“The target of this assassination attempt was NOT David Ortiz. The target was a friend of David Ortiz’s, who was on the same table. The target was Sixto David Fernandez.” –Jean Alain Rodriguez pic.twitter.com/gn2HCSnxf5
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) June 19, 2019
Rodriguez also identified Victor Hugo Gomez, a Gulf Cartel member, as the mastermind of the attack, according to ESPN's Marly Rivera. Gomez is a fugitive in the United States.
"It's shameful that there's been all these assumptions about a person of the caliber of David Ortiz. I will not rest until all the people involved are arrested. No act of this nature can go unpunished," Rodriguez added at the press conference.
The former Red Sox star underwent two surgeries, and doctors removed his gallbladder and part of his intestines. Ortiz is still recovering from the gunshot wound to his lower back. He was shot once at a lounge, and the bullet penetrated through his back and exited out through his stomach. Shortly after the shooting, Ortiz was flown to the intensive care unit at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital, and he has been in that hospital for more than a week.
