David Ortiz Shot

I haven't seen a thread and this and don't know where to put it, so here it lands. David Ortiz was shot in the back at close range on Sunday night in the Dominican Republic. By all accounts, it appears he was targeted. Is it just me or does something seem fishy here? Why was he targeted? I can't help but think there could be some interesting developments that come from this. Am I crazy to think this?

I read somewhere he was messing around with the girlfriend of someone in the cartel.

I read somewhere he was messing around with the girlfriend of someone in the cartel.

That's probably not a great idea, especially when you're married.

Looking at reports, this was pretty serious. They removed his gallbladder and parts of his intestines.

How dangerous is the Dominican Republic?

Haven't some American tourists recently died in the Dominican?

How dangerous is the Dominican Republic?

 

Haven't some American tourists recently died in the Dominican?

They have. My wife and I have a trip planned for there next February.

How dangerous is the Dominican Republic?

 

Haven't some American tourists recently died in the Dominican?

A lot of places in the Carribean are dangerous if you venture too far off the beaten path.

How dangerous is the Dominican Republic?

 

Haven't some American tourists recently died in the Dominican?

Yes, several and a lot of them very suspicious.

How dangerous is the Dominican Republic?

 

Haven't some American tourists recently died in the Dominican?

Latest I saw was 6 Americans, all from mysterious causes. Robert Wallace died after taking a drink of scotch from a bar in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in April. David Harrison died at the same resort a year ago.

Miranda Schaup-Werner Yvette Monique Sport both died at Principe Bahai Resort. Cause of death is listed as Heart attack but the family says they were promised a toxicology report but have not seen one a year later.

Edward Holmes and Cynthia Day died in their room at Grand Bahai Principe Resort on May 25. Respiratory failure and pulmonary edema are listed as cause of death. The Dominican ME said that both victims showed signs of enlarged liver and something else I can't recall. A US doctor said those are very common conditions that happen post-mortem so she is not surprised they found that in the autopsy. Also, neither of those conditions is likely to cause death so suddenly if a living person had them. The couple was on a cruise and was photographed in a kayak earlier. To die from the conditions described by the Dominican ME you would not be healthy enough to go on a cruise or to kayak. So, the US doctor says she is much more interested in the toxicology report. A bottle of water from the in-room bar was opened and had been consumed. Plus, the chances of both victims dying simultaneously from the conditions described by the ME is beyond astronomical. Something else is going on here.

I have several friends who have lived in the DR for over 20 years, for a long while in the capitol city, and the last 8 yrs in a resort area. When we went to visit them in Santo Domingo I asked about crime. They said petty crime was abundant, lots of theft and the like. The houses all had bars on the windows (even in the poorer neighborhoods) and the nicer homes had back yards that were surrounded by a fence or wall with broken pieces of glass cemented into the top to keep thieves from scaling them.

However, he said their was very little violent crime. He did say tourists could be targeted for theft (like any where else). His home had been broken into once, in all those years, but he had never felt threatened at any time. We did attract a lot of beggars walking as a group in the streets of Santo Domingo. And one thing you don't ever want to do there, is drive, unless you enjoy playing chicken with every vehicle coming towards you at an intersection. BTW, if guilty of a traffic violation, like causing an accident, can bring serious charges. Best not to drive.

Dominican Republic deaths: Pennsylvania woman Miranda Schaup-Werner among 3 Americans to mysteriously die at Grand Bahia Principe Hotel - CBS News

A lot of places in the Carribean are dangerous if you venture too far off the beaten path.

My wife and I honeymooned in Puerto Rico back in 2013. Spent the first half of the vacation in a pretty swanky rental house on Vieques, a smaller, significantly less built-up island off to the east of the main island of Puerto Rico. Most of the beaches were pretty remote - you'd have to hike for 10-15 minutes through mangrove forests to get to the beach, and chances are, you wouldn't see any other people the entire time you were at the beach. On day 3 or 4, we're out on the beach and this DEA helicopter comes flying around really low - literally like low enough to disrupt the water below it as it flew. Ends up landing on the opposite side of the beach, and then a couple of DEA agents walk across the beach to us and tell us that there was a known coke dealer who washed up on one of the other beaches on the island that morning with a half-dozen bullet holes in him. Asked if we had seen any drug activity while we had been there. We hadn't.

I asked them if I needed to be worried about our safety at all. He said, "Nahh, they won't dare kill tourists. You guys are their bread and butter, so hurting you would be biting the hand that feeds them."

Haha, welcome to Puerto Rico.

That would get your attention, @Colonels_Wear_Blue.

How dangerous is the Dominican Republic?

 

Haven't some American tourists recently died in the Dominican?

7 American's have died in the last 10 months. One recent "heart attack" death has now been ruled as mysterious. That guy was the brother of one of the Shark Tank Millionaires, so I doubt he was at some nefarious hotel.

Is there a website to continually update tourists on places to temporarily (or permanently) stay away from due to safety concerns?

Is there a website to continually update tourists on places to temporarily (or permanently) stay away from due to safety concerns?

I think the State Department has something like that.

The authorities have stated that there were seven men involved in plotting the hit on Ortiz, with the guy at the top-left, Rolfi Ferriera Cruz, acting as trigger-man. 6 of the 7 men are in in Dominican National Police custody, with the exception being Luis Alfredo Rivas Clase, who goes by “The Surgeon,” on the street.

Ferriera Cruz, who was paid $7800 for the hit, is also wanted in New Jersey for at least two separate street robberies, while Rivas Clase is also a suspect in a 2018 shooting in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Ferriera Cruz was driven to the club on the back of a motorcycle which was followed by two other vehicles carrying the remaining 5 conspirators. Ferriera Cruz hopped off the back of the motorcycle, walked into the club silently, and shot Ortiz in the back from

Dominican National Police have declined to offer any information regarding what party paid for the hit on Ortiz, or the motive behind the hit.

The authorities have stated that there were seven men involved in plotting the hit on Ortiz, with the guy at the top-left, Rolfi Ferriera Cruz, acting as trigger-man. 6 of the 7 men are in in Dominican National Police custody, with the exception being Luis Alfredo Rivas Clase, who goes by “The Surgeon,” on the street.

 

Ferriera Cruz, who was paid $7800 for the hit, is also wanted in New Jersey for at least two separate street robberies, while Rivas Clase is also a suspect in a 2018 shooting in Reading, Pennsylvania.

 

Ferriera Cruz was driven to the club on the back of a motorcycle which was followed by two other vehicles carrying the remaining 5 conspirators. Ferriera Cruz hopped off the back of the motorcycle, walked into the club silently, and shot Ortiz in the back from

 

Dominican National Police have declined to offer any information regarding what party paid for the hit on Ortiz, or the motive behind the hit.

Seven people to shoot a guy? That's six more than you need, isn't it? Now if you're going to kidnap someone, I can see where having the additional numbers would be beneficial. But, involving seven people just to shoot someone only gives you six people that can flip on the one guy who actually did it.