9 Suspects In Custody For Shooting Of David Ortiz In Dominican Republic
BOSTON (CBS/AP) – The suspected gunman and eight other people are under arrest in the shooting of David Ortiz, an ambush that investigators say was a hit that paid nearly $8,000. One of the suspects is a woman and two others are inmates in prison.
What's still not clear is the motive for the shooting of the Red Sox legend, who remains in intensive care at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Read: David Ortiz Making Good Progress
The Dominican Republic's police director, Maj. Gen. Ney Aldrin Bautista Almonte, said the coordinator of the attack was offered about $7,800 to orchestrate the shooting Sunday, June 9 in Santo Domingo. Authorities have not said yet who hired the attackers.
A law-enforcement official, on the condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that police are investigating whether Ortiz may have formed some relationship or acquaintance during a trip to the Dominican Republic that, without his knowledge, set off the chain of events leading to his shooting.
The accused shooter has been identified by authorities as Rolfy Ferreyra, aka Sandy, a skinny, tattooed 25-year-old who officials said had confessed to the shooting.
In a statement, officials said the weapon used, a Browning Hi Power semi-automatic pistol, had been handed to suspect Oliver Moises Mirabal Acosta, then to suspect Porfirio Allende Dechamps Vasquez, AKA The Kid, who buried it in the garden of his home.
Both men have been arrested and the gun has been recovered.
Also under arrest were Joel Rodríguez de la Cruz, aka Squiddy; Reynaldo Rodríguez Valenzuela, aka The Chinaman; and the suspected driver of the motorcycle, Eddy Vladimir Feliz García, aka The Package.
Many were caught in the same clothes they were seen wearing on surveillance video, Bautista said.
Later Thursday, Dominican authorities brought in the five suspects from Wednesday along with a handful of additional suspects, including a woman. The nine were rushed to the court in a police pickup truck accompanied heavily armed police for their first appearance, during which charges will be presented against them so they can continue to be held.
WATCH: Raw Video Of Suspects Brought Into Court
According to CBS News, one of the men is already facing charges in the United States. He has allegedly been on the run since December 2017 for a series of robberies in New Jersey.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
