One bullet hit Taylor in the thigh and severed his femoral artery, and another hit a wall, Sharpstein said. The baby, who was in a crib, and Taylor’s girlfriend, who was hiding under the bedsheets, were unhurt, he said. It was unclear whether there was more than one intruder.  Citing a request by Taylor’s father, hospital officials and the police did not release information about the nature of the Taylor’s injury or his condition. But Sharpstein said in a telephone interview from the hospital that Taylor “bled out profusely” and remained unconscious for most of the day. Sharpstein, who said he was asked to speak to the news media by the family, said that doctors “were worried about loss of oxygen to the brain.”  There was good news Monday night, however, when Taylor responded to a doctor’s request to squeeze his hand and show facial expressions, said Vinny Cerrato, vice president for football operations of the Redskins.  Taylor, who is in his fourth season as a free safety for the Redskins, was selected fifth over all in the 2004 National Football League draft after playing for the University of Miami. The Redskins signed him to a seven-year, $18 million contract, and he is widely considered to be one of the toughest and best young safeties in the league.  His fierce style of play has earned him the nickname Tha Hitman. He was selected for the Pro Bowl last season and surprised viewers and players during that usually well-mannered contest by leveling a punter.  Although he has not played since spraining his knee during a Nov. 11 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Taylor leads the Redskins this season with five interceptions.  Because of his injury, Taylor did not travel with the team to its game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday, said William Norman, the Redskins’ director of public relations.  In Ashburn, Va., where the Redskins’ headquarters are located, several players were permitted to speak to reporters.  “This is not just a member of the Washington Redskins, but we’re talking about a dad, a brother, a friend of ours, and that’s where we’re at with this right now,” safety Pierson Prioleau said.  A contingent of players and officials from the Redskins organization, including the team owner Daniel Snyder, were scheduled to fly to Miami on Monday afternoon to join Taylor’s family and friends who are keeping vigil at the hospital, Sharpstein said.  His father, Pedro W. Taylor, is the chief of the Florida City Police Department, a municipality in southern Miami-Dade County about 15 miles southwest of Taylor’s home.  Taylor grew up in the Miami area and continues to live primarily in a sprawling, one-story house here in Palmetto Bay, a small, wealthy municipality of large houses and neatly tended lawns south of Miami. Taylor’s corn-yellow house sits behind a six-foot white wall.  The incident was apparently the second time in nine days that someone broke into Taylor’s house.  According to a Miami-Dade Police report, an intruder broke through a front window Nov. 17, entered several rooms, rifled through drawers and a safe, and left a kitchen knife on a bed. No one else was in the house at the time, Taylor told the police.  Investigators are apparently investigating whether there is any relation between these break-ins and a dispute two years ago between Taylor and some men in a depressed neighborhood near his current home, Sharpstein said.  In June 2005, Taylor was arrested and charged with felony assault and battery after the authorities said he pointed a gun at three men outside a house in West Perrine and accused them of stealing two all-terrain vehicles from him.  Witnesses told the police that Taylor, accompanied by several people, assaulted one of the men and made death threats before driving off. Minutes later, a group of men drove by Taylor’s parked S.U.V. and sprayed it with bullets from an AK-47 and a pistol. Taylor’s vehicle was empty at the time, and the gunmen were never identified or arrested.  Prosecutors negotiated a plea deal with Taylor and agreed to drop the felony charges. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation and pledged to donate time and money to various charities and schools in southern Florida.  Terry Aguayo contributed reporting from Miami.  A version of this article appears in print on , on Page D1 of the New York edition with the headline: Redskins’ Taylor Is Seriously Wounded in a Gun Attack. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Sean Taylor, a Pro Bowl safety with the Washington Redskins, was fighting for his life Monday after being shot by an intruder at his home in a suburb south of Miami.