SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Otavis Warren, 5, was on a breathing machine and unconscious at Memorial University Medical Center on Saturday night following an early morning shooting, family members say.
At about 3:30 a.m., two men stormed into the small house where Otavis, his mother, cousin and four siblings live on the corner of Treat Avenue and Iowa Street, according to the boy's adult brothers, Lawrence and D.J. Chaplin.
The doorbell rang, D.J. Chaplin said, and their sister answered. Police say the woman met two men with guns.
"Give it up!" one man said, according to the brothers, before they ran into the house.
The boy, called "Scooter" by his family, had been sleeping in his bed, which is tucked in the corner of the three-bedroom house's dining room.
D.J. Chaplin said he thinks Otavis must have been startled and gotten out of bed.
"They probably woke him up and scared him, but he probably scared them," D.J. Chaplin said.
Lawrence Chaplin said he heard shooting, ran into the living room and found his brother bleeding.
"I jumped up and there was blood everywhere," he said. Lawrence Chaplin said he thinks Otavis was trying to find his mother when he trailed blood across the house. There still was blood on the front door Saturday afternoon.
While Lawrence Chaplin searched the street for the men that shot his brother, D.J. Chaplin scooped up Otavis, who saw the blood and fainted.
Savannah Chatham Metropolitan police spokeswoman Gena Moore has called the invasion an "attempted robbery," but Lawrence Chaplin said he doesn't know why anyone would try to rob the family. They run a little shop out of their home, he said, selling candy and cigarettes, but all they had in the cash box that night was $20.
Lawrence Chaplin said his mother runs the shop because she is on liver dialysis and unable to work. But she has a big heart, the brothers say. She adopted Otavis when he was six-months old and also adopted their sister, the one who answered the door Saturday morning.
Otavis Warren is a kindergartner at Shuman Elementary who likes Sponge Bob Square Pants, riding his bike and playing sports, his brothers say. He got the name "Scooter" when they adopted him as a tubby baby who scooted around the house on his arms.
I'm saddened, angered, and disgusted that a child was shot during this burglary. I hope they find these criminals.
God please bless the Chaplin family. This is just heart breaking, our children are victumized before they have a chance to live.
My heart aches as I read this story. What is this world coming to, that someone would shoot an innocent child. My prayers are with this family and this sweet precious baby.
Children should be able to sleep safely in their beds secure in the knowledge that all is well. This poor baby did not deserve this. I hope he can recover.
Tragic because it never had to happen.
What a horrible reflection of a very sad memory in the lives of many who were stunned when a young father was killed in a home invasion by several teens. Thank you Lord, for saving this little boy who reminds us daily of how precious love is. I pray this child that was shot pulls through and goes on to have a life that is not obstructed by this event and that he doesn't have to suffer anything like this again. God be with this little boy!
Hope and love for this family. The shooters can burn .