The 17-year-old suspected of grappling with and shooting San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall on a San Francisco street has been charged with attempted murder.
San Francisco’s district attorney filed the murder and related firearm charges against the teenager Tuesday. Dist. Atty. Brooke Jenkins said the teenager, who has not been identified, would be arraigned Wednesday in juvenile court.
The charges include allegations of personal use and intentional discharge of a firearm, assault with a semiautomatic 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 ruling by a judge that “essentially means that the juvenile system would not be equipped to rehabilitate that minor,” Jenkins said.
“My office will review the case more closely to determine whether or not we will seek that fitness hearing,” she said.
She said the San Francisco Police Department was collecting and reviewing all available surveillance video that might have recorded the shooting during an attempted robbery Saturday in the city’s Union Square.
Jenkins also declined to confirm reports that the teen acted alone, saying the investigation would take time.
Pearsall, 23, was treated at San Francisco General Hospital for a bullet wound to the chest and released Sunday. His mother posted a message on social media saying the bullet exited his back without striking any vital organs.
The suspect, whom police described as a 17-year-old male from Tracy, a city about 70 miles east of San Francisco, was quickly apprehended as he tried to flee near the scene and taken into custody.
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said Pearsall was walking alone when the assailant confronted him and attempted an armed robbery. A struggle ensued, and the attacker’s gun fired multiple times, Scott said. Both Pearsall and the suspect were shot.
The suspect was also treated at San Francisco General, authorities said.
Jenkins said she wanted to send a message that “San Francisco is very different than it was 2½ years ago.”
“I took over in large part because the city was fed up with the fact that crime was being overly tolerated,” she said. “So I have attempted to make it clear there will be accountability when people commit crimes, most certainly serious crimes of this nature, regardless of the status of the victim.”
