The Attorney General of the Dominican Republic and the nation’s police director held a press conference yesterday and told reporters that the shooting of David Ortiz was a matter of mistaken identity.
They said that the attempted murder was ordered from the United States by one Victor Hugo Gomez, a member of Mexico’s Gulf Cartel. They said Gomez intended to have his cousin, Sixto David Fernandez, killed for allegedly informing on him to Dominican drug investigators several years ago. Fernandez is friends with Ortiz and was sitting at the same table as Ortiz at the time of the shooting.
According to the AP report of the presser, there is skepticism in the Dominican Republic of that explanation, as Fernandez is much smaller and lighter complected than Ortiz — arguably the most famous man in the Dominican Republic — making it difficult to mistake the two. Officials said, however, that the shooters were working off of a blurry, hastily-snapped photo of Fernandez taken earlier in the evening that made him appear to be wearing white pants when he was not. Ortiz, however, had on white pants at the time of the shooting.
In light of the skepticism, prosecutors were pressed on the mistaken identity explanation. Their response:
There are currently 11 men in custody in connection with the shooting. Three, including the mastermind, Gomez, remain at large:
Ortiz continues to recover in a Boston hospital.
