California teen suspect accused of shooting 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall charged with attempted murder

A California teenager accused of shooting 49ers rookie and first-round draft pick Ricky Pearsall during a botched robbery in San Francisco on Saturday has been charged with attempted murder.

The 17-year-old, whose identity was not released, was charged with attempted murder, assault with a semiautomatic weapon and attempted robbery, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced Tuesday evening.

Jenkins said the charges will be filed in juvenile court and the suspect is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon.

“Under California law, the district attorney can no longer bring charges against a juvenile in adult court,” Jenkins said.

“The only mechanism to do that is to file a motion for a transfer hearing, which requires a judge to rule on the juvenile’s fitness to be transferred to adult court, which essentially means that the juvenile system will not be equipped to rehabilitate that juvenile.”

Jenkins said her office will “review the case further to determine whether we will request a fitness for work hearing.”

Pearsall, 23, was shot in the chest by a 17-year-old man who tried to steal Pearsall’s Rolex watch around 3:30 p.m. Pacific time Saturday in San Francisco’s Union Square.

The novice repelled the attack, but one bullet hit him and the other hit the suspect.

The suspect was arrested almost immediately when he tried to flee on foot from the busy street.

Officers provided aid to Pearsall and the suspect before they were taken to hospital for treatment. The rookie was described as in “serious but stable” condition.

The first-round draft pick was signing autographs earlier that afternoon before he was shot.

Pearsall was released from hospital on Sunday, with his mother Erin saying her son was “extremely lucky.”

“First and foremost, I want to thank God for protecting my son,” his mother wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

“He’s very lucky, God protected him. He was shot in the chest and the bullet exited through his back. Thank God it missed his vital organs.”

Pearsall was placed on the non-football reserve/injured list on Monday.

He will be eligible to return for the team’s fifth game against the Cardinals on October 6.

Pearsall was selected by the 49ers in the first round of June’s draft — No. 31 overall — and played three years at Arizona State and two at Florida during his collegiate career.

In his final season with the Gators, he had 965 yards and six touchdowns.

The rookie was reportedly in the 49ers’ weight room on Monday, just two days after the terrifying encounter.

49ers general manager John Lynch expects Pearsall to be back on the field in 2024, saying it was “nothing short of a miracle” that he performed so well after the incident.

“Oh yeah. He’s doing great,” Lynch said Tuesday when asked if Pearsall could play for the 49ers this season.

“It’s a bit uncharted territory. It’s not every day you come across something like this.”