San Francisco 49ers first-round pick Ricky Pearsall was shot during an attempted robbery in San Francisco’s Union Square on Saturday.
San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s office confirmed to NBC Bay Area that Pearsall was shot but is in stable condition with no life-threatening injuries. Additionally, the office also confirmed that the suspect was also shot with their own gun.
Pearsall, 23, was shot in the chest “and is in serious but stable condition,” according to the San Francisco 49ers.
According to the San Francisco Police Department, the suspect attempted to rob Pearsall, which led to a physical altercation. The 17-year-old suspect from Tracy has been placed in custody, but no formal charges have been placed, per SFPD.
Both Pearsall and the suspect were transported to San Francisco General Hospital for “further medical evaluation.”
At a press conference, Mayor London Breed, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and Police Chief William Scott addressed the public and said an investigation is ongoing.
Breed took to the podium to condemn the violence and said she is working with the DA’s office to hold those responsible accountable.
“This is a terrible and rare incident in Union Square,” Breed said. “I’m confident that our District Attorney will take the necessary actions to prosecute this case. San Francisco has the lowest violent crime rate of major cities in the country.”
According to 2023 figures from the city, San Francisco saw a decrease in every major crime category tracked by the FBI in its Uniform Crime Reporting Program in that year’s first quarter — including homicide, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, arson, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft.
Jenkins said her office is planning to file charges in juvenile court next week due to the suspect’s age.
“It should be clear, the police department will do its job, and when that happens, my office will make sure that people are held accountable,” Jenkins said. “This is a setback.”
San Francisco 49ers first-round pick Ricky Pearsall was shot during an attempted robbery in San Francisco’s Union Square on Saturday. Alyssa Goard has the latest on how the incident impacted safety.
Prior to the presser, Breed issued a statement sending her best to Pearsall.
“This afternoon, there was an attempted robbery in Union Square involving San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, and he was shot,” Breed wrote on the social platform X. “SFPD was on scene immediately, and an arrest of the shooter was made. My thoughts are with Ricky and his family at this time. We will provide more updates, including on his condition, as I receive them.”
49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel took to social media and said Pearsall was “good” following the incident.
Leading up to gameplay, first-round receiver Pearsall missed the entirety of the preseason due to a shoulder injury.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan described Pearsall’s issue as a shoulder subluxation, which occurs when the ball of the shoulder partially slides out of the socket and then pops back into place.
“He did it in college, I think, his junior year,” Shanahan said at the 49ers’ preseason finale with the Las Vegas Raiders last week. “About 50% of the people coming out of college do that. That wasn’t really the problem. He did it in OTAs for the first time with us. When you do that, it’s tender. Then he redid it here a couple of weeks ago. It makes it tender, so you want to give him time to come back from it. It’s probably happened to 80% of the guys on our team at some time. It’s just a pretty normal thing.”
According to Shanahan, the University of Flordia alumnus experienced his latest subluxation on August 6. He had previously suffered one during the offseason but continued to practice.
Pearsall, the No. 31 pick who was teammates with Brandon Aiyuk at Arizona State University before transferring, participated in six out of 19 training camp practices. However, he was unable to play in all three preseason games due to hamstring and shoulder injuries.
The shoulder injury kept him sidelined for 20 days.
San Francisco 49ers first-round pick Ricky Pearsall was shot during an attempted robbery in San Francisco’s Union Square on Saturday. Anthony Flores has the latest on what the incident means for the team.
This is a developing story and will be updated once more information becomes available.