SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Six suspects, including the alleged gunman, have been detained in the shooting of former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz, the Dominican Republic’s chief prosecutor said Wednesday.
Other suspects were also being pursued in the shooting, which witnesses said was carried out by two men on a motorcycle and two other groups of people in cars.
“At this moment, they are being interrogated and we will continue deepening the investigation to get to the truth about what happened,” chief prosecutor Jean Alain Rodriguez said.
“Nobody involved in this lamentable episode will remain in impunity, not even the material or intellectual author” of the crime, he said.
Authorities have declined to give a motive for the shooting at a popular Santo Domingo bar Sunday night.
Among the suspects in custody is the alleged shooter, identified by authorities as Rolfy Ferreyra, aka Sandy.
Police Maj. Gen. Ney Aldrin Bautista Almonte said the alleged coordinator of the attack was offered 400,000 Dominican pesos, or about $7,800, to carry out the shooting. He said the alleged coordinator is also among those in custody.
Among the other suspects still at large were Luis Alfredo Rivas Clase, aka The Surgeon, as well as a woman known as The Venezuelan, or Red, and two other men, prosecutors said in a statement.
Meanwhile, in Boston, Ortiz’s wife said in statement that the former Red Sox slugger was able to sit up and take some steps as he recuperates in the intensive care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“His condition is guarded, and he will remain in the ICU for the coming days, but he is making good progress toward recovery,” Tiffany Ortiz said in the statement.
Prosecutors have said the two men on the motorcycle were seen on security camera footage talking with other people in a gray Hyundai Accent and in another Hyundai on a nearby street before the shooting.
One of the suspects, Oliver Moises Mirabal Acosta, was seen driving the Accent before mounting a motorcycle driven by 25-year-old Eddy Vladimir Feliz Garcia, the prosecutors said in a court document.
“In one of the videos it was possible to observe both the accused and the shooter planning the commission of the incident right on Octavio Mejia Ricart Street, which is parallel to the place where the event took place,” the prosecutors said.
The document also revealed ineptitude, saying the motorcycle driver, Feliz Garcia, was captured after he skidded and fell off his bike as the pair tried to flee. Enraged onlookers captured Feliz Garcia and beat him bloody before handing him over to police.
Mirabal Acosta was captured Tuesday night in the town of Mao in the northern Dominican Republic.
Feliz Garcia’s lawyer said his client, who has been charged with being an accomplice to attempted murder, is an innocent motorcycle taxi driver who had no idea his passenger was going to commit a crime.
“He didn’t know what they were going to do. He’s a fan of David’s,” the attorney, Deivi Solano, said Tuesday.
The 43-year-old Ortiz frequently travels to Santo Domingo, where his father and a sister live. He was active in the social scene there, hitting nightspots with friends who included TV personalities and Dominican reggaeton musicians.
Beloved in his hometown, Ortiz traveled the dangerous streets of the Dominican capital with little or no security, trusting his fans to protect him, according to friends.
The Dominican Republic is one of the world’s most dangerous countries. The murder rate stands at 12.5 killings per 100,000 people, placing the Dominican Republic in the top 10% to 15% of the most violent countries in the world, according to U.S. State Department data.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
