David Ortiz Not The Intended Target, Accused Shooter Claims From Jail
BOSTON (CBS/AP) - The man accused of shooting David Ortiz said the Red Sox legend was not his intended target.
Rolfy Ferreyra Cruz spoke to reporters briefly from his holding cell in the Dominican Republic Thursday. According to CBS News reporter Mola Lenghi in the Dominican, Cruz appeared to indicate he didn't realize it was Ortiz when he fired the shot.
In cell phone video obtained by WBZ-TV from the Dominican newspaper Diario Libre, a reporter asked Cruz - who was the target of the shooting?
"Wasn't David," Cruz said in Spanish.
"So then who was it?" the reporter replied.
"Someone else. Was confusing. I was told the clothing color, nothing else, I didn't see him."
Dominican police say Cruz confessed to shooting Ortiz as part of a $7,800 hit job June 9. Ortiz was shot once in the back while sitting outside a bar in Santo Domingo. He's recovering in intensive care at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Authorities still have not said who ordered the hit on Ortiz or why.
Cruz is one of nine suspects detained in the shooting investigation. Police are still looking for at least one more suspect. That man, Luis Rivas-Clase, is also wanted for a shooting in Reading, Pennsylvania in 2018.
Cruz, 25, is also wanted in connection with two armed robberies in Clifton, New Jersey, in 2017.
The suspects appeared in court Friday night in Santo Domingo. They were surrounded by police while heading into and out of the courtroom. Some were wearing protective vests and helmets.
"We trust them [authorities] we've been following the investigation. And have been promised by the director of national police, the attorney general and the president that they will follow through with the ultimate consequence. We trust that process and we ask you do also," Ortiz spokesman Leo Lopez said Friday.
"Don't speculate with relation to this investigation. This will only impact the legal validity of the process. Please allow authorities to give the official word of what's been happening."
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
