A 17-year-old California teen accused of shooting San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver and first-round pick Ricky Pearsall in a botched robbery over the weekend has been charged with attempted murder.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Tuesday night that the 17-year-old, who remains unidentified, has been charged with attempted murder, assault with a semi-automatic firearm, and attempted robbery, according to the New York Post.
Jenkins said the charges would be filed in juvenile court, and the suspect is expected to be arraigned this afternoon.
According to published reports, Pearsall, 23, was shot in the chest by the 17-year-old gunman, who tried to steal Pearsall’s Rolex watch at about 3:30 p.m. PT Saturday in San Francisco’s Union Square.
Pearsall fought off the robbery, but one bullet struck him and another hit the suspect.
The suspect was almost immediately arrested as he tried to flee the busy street on foot.
Officers aided Pearsall and the suspect before they were transported to a hospital for treatment, where the rookie was listed in “serious but stable condition.”
The first-round draft pick had been signing autographs earlier in the afternoon before he was shot.
Pearsall was released from the hospital Sunday, and his mother, Erin, shared that her son was “extremely lucky.”
“First and far [sic] most I want to thank God for protecting my baby boy,” his mother wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
“He is extremely lucky, God shielded him. He was shot in the chest, and it exited out his back. Thanks be to God it missed his vital organs.”
Pearsall was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list Monday.
He will be eligible to return for the team’s fifth game against the Cardinals on Oct. 6.
Remarkably, Pearsall was reportedly in the 49ers’ weight room on Monday, just two days after the shooting.
Pearsall was selected with the 49ers’ first-round pick in June’s draft — No. 31 overall — and played three years at Arizona State and two at Florida during his collegiate career.