The 17-year-old suspected of attacking and shooting San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall on a San Francisco street has been charged with attempted murder.
The San Francisco district attorney filed murder and firearm charges against the teenager on Tuesday. Attorney Brooke Jenkins said the teenager, who has not been identified, will be arraigned in juvenile court on Wednesday.
The charges include allegations of personal use 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 ruling by a judge that “essentially means the juvenile system would not be equipped to rehabilitate this juvenile,” Jenkins said.
“My office will review the file further to determine whether or not we will request a fitness hearing,” she said.
She said the San Francisco Police Department is collecting and reviewing all available surveillance video that may have captured the shooting during an attempted robbery Saturday in the city’s Union Square.
Jenkins also declined to confirm reports that the teenager acted alone, saying 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, described by police 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 to rob him at gunpoint. A struggle ensued and the assailant’s gun fired multiple times, Scott said. Pearsall and the suspect were both shot.
The suspect was also treated at San Francisco General Hospital, authorities said.
Jenkins said she wanted to send a message that “San Francisco is very different than it was two and a half years ago.”
“I came into office largely because the city was tired of crime being tolerated,” she said. “So I tried to make it clear that people will be held accountable when they commit crimes, certainly serious crimes of this nature, regardless of the status of the victim.”
