Reports: Ex-Twin, Red Sox star David Ortiz shot in the Dominican Republic; full recovery expected
UPDATE 6 A.M.
David Ortiz is expected to make a full recovery after undergoing surgery on a gunshot wound in the Dominican Republic, according to local reporter Dionisio Soldevila.
Soldevila spoke with Ortiz's father, who said Ortiz didn't suffer any major organ damage from the bullet that entered the left side of his lower back and exited the left side of his abdomen.
"Ortiz had to remove parts of the intestines and the colon and remove the gallbladder. His liver was damaged, too," a source told ESPN's Enrique Rojas.
The shooting was captured on security cameras and shared on social media late Sunday night, with authorities telling ESPN Deportes that the shooter got off a motorcycle, walked up to the Ortiz in a bar and shot him at nearly point-blank range.
Surveillance video shows the moment MLB star David Ortiz was shot in the back at a Dominican Republic bar last night. Officials say he's in stable condition after undergoing surgery 🙏
— WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) June 10, 2019
DETAILS: https://t.co/qwaiwdxhTS pic.twitter.com/jH0bZ1Kg43
The alleged shooter was then captured by a crowd and beaten before being arrested and taken to a hospital for treatment, ESPN Deportes adds.
Ortiz, 43, who played for the Twins for six seasons before joining the Red Sox, is a baseball hero in Boston and the Dominican Republic. There is a street and bridge named after him near Fenway Park in Boston and the team retired his jersey in 2017.
Original story 9:50 p.m. Sunday
Former Twin turned World Series hero for the Boston Red Sox David Ortiz was transported to a hospital after being shot in the Dominican Republic on Sunday night, according to multiple reports.
Ortiz's father, Leo Ortiz, confirmed the shooting to ESPN, with Enrique Rojas reporting that it happened at an amusement center in Santo Domingo.
Former Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was shot and wounded at an amusement center in the Dominican Republic, his father told ESPN’s @Enrique_Rojas1. pic.twitter.com/c5KgIWOLXq
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 10, 2019
Leo Ortiz was not able to tell Rojas how severely wounded his son was in the shooting, nor did he know where he was taken for treatment.
CNN reports he was shot in the back.
Ortiz played 20 seasons in the MLB, the last 14 of which were in Boston where he helped the Red Sox win three championships.
Ortiz played six seasons with the Twins (1997-2002) before being released, only to be claimed by Boston where he immediately turned into a superstar, finishing as a top-five vote-getter in the American League MVP vote five consecutive seasons from 2003 to 2007 and going on to play in 10 All-Star games.
Are you serious?!?! You disrespect the legend @davidortiz in the motherland? Is you f#%*?!# dumb?!? Prayers up for the one and only Big Papi. The island is a scary place for homeboy right now.
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) June 10, 2019
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.