Police arrest “mastermind” in Ortiz shooting

Authorities in the Dominican Republic announced Friday that they have arrested the man behind the shooting of baseball great David Ortiz in an apparent case of mistaken identity.

Police said Víctor Hugo Gómez was detained in the Caribbean country. No further details were immediately released.

Authorities had said last week that they believed Gómez was living in the U.S. and described him as a dangerous fugitive, adding that he was an associate of Mexico’s Gulf Cartel.

He is accused of ordering the killing of his cousin, Sixto David Fernández. Authorities say hit men confused Ortiz with Fernández during the June 9 shooting at a bar in the capital of Santo Domingo. The two men are friends and were sharing a table.

Carlos Rubio, Gómez’s attorney, did not immediately return a message for comment. However, he posted a seven-minute video on YouTube on Friday in which his client talks about the case.

“I would never do something like this,” Gómez said, adding that he did not try to kill his cousin, “and least of all David, ‘Big Papi.’”

Gómez, who was wearing a gray T-shirt and a khaki cap, said he made the video because he fears for his life and wanted to reject the accusations as he called on police to investigate the case more deeply.

“I want to clarify that I have nothing to do with any attempt on the life against Sixto David Fernández,” he said. “We’re family.”

Gómez then spent most of the video accusing Fernández of having ties to drug traffickers, saying that many people would back up his claims.

Fernández did not return a message for comment.

Authorities said at a recent press conference that Gómez wanted Fernández killed because he believed his cousin turned him into Dominican drug investigators in 2011. They said Gómez then spent time in prison in the Dominican Republic with one of at least 11 suspects arrested in the shooting.