Juvenile charged with attempted murder in connection with Ricky Pearsall shooting

A 17-year-old suspected of struggling and shooting San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Ricky Pearsall on a San Francisco street has been charged with attempted murder.

The San Francisco district attorney filed murder and related firearm charges against the teen Tuesday. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said the teen, whose identity was not released, will be arraigned in juvenile court on Wednesday.

The charges include personal injury and intentional discharge of a firearm, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and attempted second-degree robbery, Jenkins said at a news conference.

She declined to say whether she would seek to transfer the defendant to adult court. That would require a judge’s ruling that “basically means the juvenile system is not going to be equipped to rehabilitate a juvenile,” Jenkins said.

“My office will look into the matter further to decide whether we will need to request a fitness to work hearing,” she said.

She added that the San Francisco Police Department is collecting and analyzing all available surveillance footage that may have captured the shooting during the attempted robbery that occurred Saturday in the city’s Union Square.

Jenkins declined to confirm reports that the teen acted alone, adding that the investigation would take time.

Pearsall, 23, was treated at San Francisco General Hospital for a gunshot wound to the chest and released Sunday. His mother posted a message on social media saying the bullet exited his back without hitting any vital organs.

The suspect, whom police described as a 17-year-old man from Tracy, a city about 70 miles east of San Francisco, was quickly apprehended as he tried to flee near the scene and arrested.

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said Pearsall was walking alone when the assailant lunged at him and tried to commit a robbery with a gun. There was a struggle and the assailant’s gun discharged several times, Scott said. Both Pearsall and the suspect were shot.

Authorities said the suspect was also treated at San Francisco General Hospital.

Jenkins said she wanted to convey the message that “San Francisco is very different than it was 2 1/2 years ago.”

“I took over in large part because the city was fed up with the fact that crime was being tolerated too much,” she said. “So I tried to make it clear that there would be accountability when people committed crimes, certainly serious crimes of this nature, regardless of the status of the victim.”