The Redskin Report

The Washington Times Redskins 360 blog is reporting that Sean Taylor was a victim of a shooting in his Miami home last night. He was reportedly shot in the groin and air lifted to the hospital. Obviously this is not good.

UPDATE: Jason LaConfora has reported that Taylor is in critical condition and an artery in his leg may have been hit. Apparently armed robbers entered his house and when Taylor confronted them he was shot in the leg. Let’s hope for the best.

UPDATE 2: The local ABC affiliate in Miami has reported that a friend alleged that Taylor was shot twice.

UPDATE 3: From LaConfora (which is where you should be reading for updates) Located here - http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider:

Just spoke with a friend of the family who said that Sean lost a substantial amount of blood and the bullet traveled near the femoral artery, which is located in the thigh. Sean’s father, Pedro, the chief of police in Florida City, Florida, is with him at the hospital, according to the source. They believe the situation is stabalizing, and are obviously hoping for the best.

UPDATE 4: Taylor is reportedly in a coma after six hours of surgery. Anyone else feeling sick hearing all this news? Let’s hope he can pull through.

UPDATE 5: From the Miami Herald (i’ve bolded the most important part):

The noises Sean Taylor and his girlfriend heard in their house early Monday turned out to be their worst nightmare.

At least one armed intruder had broken into the $900,000 Palmetto Bay house of the star NFL player and were at his bedroom door. Taylor rose from bed to investigate, and just outside his bedroom, was shot in the groin and critically wounded. He collapsed back into the room, where he breathed heavily as blood gushed from his wound, according to Taylor’s lawyer and family friend, Richard Sharpstein.

Taylor, a former University of Miami star and Gulliver Preparatory School graduate with a controversial past, was airlifted to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. About 20 family members and friends gathered at Ryder Trauma on Monday morning. They cried, made phone calls, talked among themselves and refused to speak with reporters.

Sharpstein said Taylor emerged from surgery in better shape and will likely live. He is in intensive care and doctors have allowed his family to see him.

According to police, Miami-Dade patrol officers received a call about 1:45 a.m. Monday that a homeowner had been shot in the leg. The homeowners told police they heard intruders at the rear door of the house, trying to pry it open.

The male homeowner went to investigate and a woman in the house then heard a shot. Paramedics responded and found Taylor with a gunshot wound to the groin. Detective Juan Villalba, a Miami-Dade police spokesman, said police were interviewing relatives who were potential witnesses.

Richard Sharpstein, who represented Taylor in a previous criminal case, said Taylor and his girlfriend were in their bedroom and heard noises in the house. The couple’s baby was also in the house. As he walked to the bedroom door to check out the noise, the door swung open and someone fired two shots at Taylor. One shot hit his groin, the other missed him. Taylor’s girlfriend found him breathing heavily.

”Nothing was stolen. They shot at him and fled,” said Sharpstein, who was visiting family at the hospital. “He is clearly the victim of assault in his own home.”

Sharpstein said someone tried to break into Taylor’s house last weekend.

Retirees Pat and Jim Smith live in the house next to Taylor’s. They said they heard voices outside about 2:30 a.m. and went outside to check it out. Jim Smith talked to a woman with a baby in her arms who he believes is Taylor’s nanny. She said someone tried to break into Taylor’s house last weekend and again earlier this weekend.

”I am going to make sure my gun is loaded,” Jim Smith said. “We never did have any problems here.”

The shooting happened at Taylor’s home on Old Cutler Rd. in Palmetto Bay in South Dade. Taylor paid $900,000 for the four bedroom, four-bath house in 2005, according to the county’s property appraiser’s website. The one-story, pale yellow house is protected by a white wall with black gates, and a buzzer controls access. A car draped beneath a car cover and a boat can be seen on the grounds.

Lt. Nancy Perez, a spokeswoman with the Miami-Dade Police Department, said police have been unable to talk to Taylor. They want to find out who shot him and why. They have no further information.

UPDATE 6: From JLC (not good news here)

Richard Sparpstein, who has represented Sean Taylor in legal matters in the past and is a friend of the family, said moments ago that the player’s life is hanging in the balance in the hospital. Sharpstein, speaking from the hospital, said Taylor is “nonresponsive and unconscious” and the doctors are “worried about a possible brain injury or death.”

Sharpstein, who has been with Taylor’s family at the hospital much of the day, said that there are major worries that Taylor may have lost oxygen to the brain, and that no other procedures are planned for right now. “They’re waiting to see if he comes to,” Sharpstein said. He was shot in the groin/thigh area near the femoral artery and lost copious amounts of blood. He was airlifted to the trauma center and endured several hours of surgery, Sharpstein said.

Taylor is in intensive care, Sharpstein said, and his girlfriend and child were not injured in the attack. Sharpstein said Taylor was sleeping when he heard a noise in the living room. The intruders were at his bedroom and Taylor reached for a machete or other form of knife he keeps nearby in case of emergency, and two shots were fired, with one striking his leg.

“Right now he’s clinging to life and we’re all praying he makes it,” Sharpstein said.

Obviously this conflicts with the Miami Herald story released earlier. Both are quoting the same guy, so who knows if JLC has new info or if they are just pulling different quotes. In breaking news like this, these conflicting reports are pretty common place as everyone tries to get the scoop 1st.

UPDATE 7: Finally some good news. JLC is now reporting that a team official has mentioned that Taylor is now responsive and may have opened his eyes. I doubt he’s out of the woods yet, but this is a positive sign especially for someone who was unresponsive all day long.

More as it comes available.