Boston Red Sox legendary slugger David Ortiz is out of surgery and is “fine” after being shot on Sunday while at a club in Domingo, Dominican Republic, according to ESPN.
Leo Lopez, who is Ortiz’s media assistant, said that Ortiz is stable but remains in intensive care following an operation that lasted six hours and was performed bu three doctors, led by Dr. Abel Gonzalez.
The surgical team had to remove part of Ortiz’s intestines and colon, and his gallbladder. Ortiz, 43, also suffered liver damage.
“Doctors say he is out of danger, but he is heavily sedated and will be in intensive care for the next 24 hours,” Lopez said.
“Doctors say that David is out of danger, thank God,” Ortiz’s father, Leo Ortiz, said. “What they have told me post-op is that the doctors believe he will recover quickly.”
“Big Papi will be around for a long time.”
Ortiz was shot by a man who got off a motorcycle and shot him in the back at near point blank range around 8:50 pm local time at the Dial Bar and Lounge located in Santo Domingo.
The shooter has been identified as Eddy Feliz Garcia, 25, according to police spokesman Col. Frank Duran Mejia.
Dominican National Police Director Ney Aldrin Bautista Almonte stated that Garcia was captured and beaten by a crowd of people at a bar, and that he suffered a cranium contusion and trauma to his thorax, left knee and right leg, according to the Dominican Republic’s National Health Service.
Garcia was treated at the Dario Contreras Hospital in Santo Domingo and then released to police custody.
Jhoel Lopez, a Dominican TV host who was with Ortiz, was also injured in the shooting, by the same bullet, shot in the leg and suffering injuries that are considered non-life threatening.
Ortiz, who was born in Santo Domingo, played 20 seasons in MLB and was best known for the 14 years he spent with Boston.
TMZ Sports has released security footage of Ortiz being shot, which you can see below:
Video of the shooter being beaten by the crowd can be found below, courtesy of TMZ Sports.