David Ortiz is back in the welcoming arms of Boston after being shot at a nightclub in the Dominican Republic Sunday night.
The legendary Red Sox slugger was flown to Boston and taken by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital Monday about 24 hours after he was shot in the back in his native Santo Domingo and underwent surgery to remove portions of his intestines and gall bladder.
Ortiz — also known as Big Papi — asked to see his family as soon as he opened his eyes, a doctor who assisted in his surgery said.
Ortiz was in serious condition on Monday, but was stable enough to be flown, said Sam Kennedy, Red Sox president and CEO.
Many questions remain about the shooting. Here’s what we know and don’t know:
How did the shooting unfold?
Surveillance footage from the Dial Bar and Lounge shows an area of packed tables. Club goers are drinking, mingling, and fiddling with their phones when a shooter approaches from the top of the screen, the short video clip shows.
Only a shooter’s legs are visible when a shot is fired, appearing to hit Ortiz in the back. Ortiz slumps to his left and falls out of his chair. Frightened bystanders knock over chairs as they flee.
Ortiz’s agent, Fernando Cuza, who has seen the video, confirmed to CNN that the man who falls from his chair is Ortiz.
“The bullet went through his stomach,” Felix Durán Mejia, a spokesman for the national police, told CNN.
Television host Jhoel Lopez, who was with Ortiz, was also shot, according to his wife, Liza Blanco.
Who is the suspect?
Eddy Vladimir Féliz García of nearby Santo Domingo West, its own city, was identified as the suspect.
The Dominican National Police said in a statement Féliz García and another man approached the Dial Bar and Lounge on a motorcycle before at least one opened fire hitting Ortiz and Jhoel Lopez.
The alleged gunmen tried to drive away, but the motorcycle fell to the pavement.
The crowd attacked Féliz García and handed him over to police, while the second suspect fled on foot, police said. The suspect was treated at Hospital Dr. Dario Contreras in Santo Domingo and is now in custody, police said.
Multiple people have been detained in connection with the shooting, said Durán Mejia.
Ortiz does not know Féliz García, who has a 2017 drug charge and lives in Las Caovas, West Santo Domingo. His motive for the shooting is unknown at this time.
Why did the Boston Red Sox send a plane?
The night he was shot, Ortiz was taken to the Clinica Abel Gonzalez, where he was in intensive care after being treated for bleeding in his liver and having portions of his intestines and gall bladder removed.
The Red Sox sent a medical air ambulance to pick up Ortiz Monday. He arrived Monday night and was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.
Boston loves Ortiz. Of his 20 seasons in Major League Baseball, he spent 14 of them in Boston as the Red Sox’s designated hitter.
In 2004, he helped the Red Sox to its first championship since 1918, ending the so-called “Curse of the Bambino.” Fans, mostly tongue-in-cheek, blamed the team’s decades-long championship drought on the 1919 decision to trade legend Babe Ruth, aka the Bambino, to the rival New York Yankees.
Ortiz was also on the Red Sox title teams of 2007 and 2013. He was named World Series MVP in 2013.
The 2013 championship came just months after the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people and wounded more than 200 others. Ortiz emerged as a champion for the city in the bombings’ aftermath, and his tribute to Boston the day after police captured the bomber gained national attention.
“This jersey that we wear today, it doesn’t say Red Sox. It says Boston,” Ortiz said, standing on the infield as the crowd cheered police officers who were on the field.
“This is our f***ing city, and nobody’s going to dictate our freedom. Stay strong,” he said.
What’s the status of the investigation?
National police have not formally interviewed Ortiz, said spokesman Capt. Luis Manuel Pimentel, adding that the former ballplayer was “pretty beat up.” Police will speak to Ortiz soon, he said.
Leo Lopez, Ortiz’s media assistant, said Ortiz is confident the shooting was not a robbery attempt.
Investigators are examining evidence in the case, including the suspect’s Bajaj Platina brand motorcycle.
Santo Domingo’s Ministry of Interior and Police announced Monday a “provisional closing” of the shooting scene, Dial Bar and Lounge, after the weekend shooting. The ministry’s Control of Alcoholic Beverages program initiated the closure.
The club has been given three days to give their account of what happened as police continue to investigate the shooting, the ministry said in a statement.
Police have also been falsely linked to the shooting after an officer’s ID card was shared on social media implicating him in the crime, the Dominican National Police released a statement denying any of their agents were involved.
“Our institution has no link to the event which occurred in the club Dial in the Venezuela Avenue,” National Police said in a news release.
They cautioned the public against speculation and the spread of false information.
