Redskins' Taylor Critically Hurt In Shooting at His Home in Fla.

Just before Monday's shooting, Taylor was awakened by a noise in his living room, Sharpstein said. As the shooter or shooters approached Taylor's bedroom, he reached for a machete or other form of knife he keeps nearby in case of emergency, and two shots were fired, one striking his leg in the groin area.

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Cerrato said Taylor's fiancee tried to call police from the house line, only to discover that the line had been cut. She had to use her cellphone to call 911, which delayed the response time.

"This was a deliberate attack," Cerrato said without elaborating.

About 30 of Taylor's friends and family kept vigil in the trauma center waiting room throughout the day, praying together, wiping tear-reddened eyes and waiting for updates on his condition.

Things seemed bleak at various points. At about 3:30 p.m., a man who described himself as a friend of Taylor's walked out of the trauma unit and kneeled in prayer in the parking lot. He was sobbing. After wiping away his tears, he returned to the waiting room.

Taylor's younger brother "is looking very sad and his dad is looking sad," said Marvin Riggens, 27, after stepping outside briefly to make cellphone calls. "From what I understand, it's not looking very good right now."

At 4:30 p.m., Snyder, Portis, Cerrato and two other team officials arrived at the hospital, emerging from a black Mercedes-Benz sedan and a Cadillac Escalade.

The shooting came eight days after another incident was reported at Taylor's home. An intruder pried open a front window, went through drawers and a safe and left a kitchen knife on a bed, according to the police report of the Nov. 18 incident.

Despite the break-in a week ago, there was no security system at Taylor's house, according to Emory Williams, a cousin of Taylor's.

A day after that first incident, Taylor called Gibbs from Miami and requested permission to remain in the city to deal with matters related to the attempted burglary, Gibbs said. Gibbs said he obliged, excusing Taylor from some team meetings.

Snyder made brief remarks to reporters at Redskins Park before flying to Miami. "On behalf of the Redskins -- the players and everyone here at the Redskins -- our hearts and prayers go out to Sean and his family," Snyder said.

Since the Redskins drafted Taylor, the safety has had several brushes with the law and National Football League rules. Taylor was charged with a felony count of aggravated assault with a firearm for allegedly brandishing a gun in a Miami neighborhood in 2005.

Taylor reached a plea agreement and avoided jail time, but was fined $71,764 by the NFL for violating the personal conduct clause of his contract.

The NFL also has fined Taylor for illegal hits, uniform violations and spitting on Tampa Bay running back Michael Pittman during a playoff game in January 2006. In 2004, Gibbs suspended Taylor for one game after he was arrested for driving under the influence; those charges were later dropped.

In the past two years, however, Taylor has earned praise from coaches and teammates for maturing and better work habits. Portis, a former University of Miami teammate, said Taylor had grown up considerably since the birth of his daughter, Jackie, in May 2006.

"It's hard to expect a man to grow up overnight," Portis said before departing for Miami. "But ever since he had this child it was like a new Sean. And everybody around here knew it. He was always smiling, always happy, always talking about his child."

Shipley reported from Miami, La Canfora from Ashburn. Staff writers Les Carpenter and Peter Whoriskey, in Miami, and researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.