Thursday 20 June 2019 06:52, UK
Former Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was not the intended target of a shooting in a nightclub in his hometown, the Dominican Republic's lead prosecutor said.
Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez told reporters the intended target was another man, dressed similarly to Ortiz, who was seated with the retired baseball star.
Ortiz was shot in the back at close range on June 9 by a man who had got off a motorcycle in the capital of Santo Domingo.
Rodriguez said the shooting was orchestrated by a member of Mexico's Gulf Cartel, who remains on the run.
He said: "We inform formally that the object of this attempt was not the person David Ortiz but another individual that was located at the same place and at the same table.
"The confusion as to the objective was seemingly brought about by a photograph taken some minutes before the attack and exchanged between the intellectual authors and the perpetrators.
"The instructed target of the intellectual authors was a friend of David Ortiz, and someone he shared the same table with.The evidence show unequivocally and scientifically that the attack was directed specifically against Sixto David Fernandez, who was a frequent customer at that establishment, especially on Sundays."
Eleven suspects have been arrested, including the alleged shooter.
Ortiz remains hospitalised from the gunshot wound to his back. Doctors in Boston have upgraded his condition from guarded to good. Doctors in the Dominican Republic removed his gallbladder and part of his intestine before he was wheeled into an air ambulance sent by the Red Sox and flown to Boston.
Ortiz led the Red Sox to three World Series championships, was a 10-time All Star and hit 541 home runs.
