The 17-year-old suspect accused of shooting 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall during an attempted robbery in San Francisco last Saturday has been charged with attempted murder, the district attorney's office announced Tuesday.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said the unidentified suspect is also facing assault with a semi-automatic firearm and attempted robbery charges.
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The charges will be filed in juvenile court, Jenkins added.
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"No longer under California law can a district attorney choose to file those charges against a minor in adult court," she said. "The only mechanism for that is to request a transfer hearing, which requires that a judge rule on the minor's fitness to be transferred to adult court, which essentially means that the juvenile system would not be equipped to rehabilitate that minor. Going forward, my office will review the case more closely to determine whether or not we will seek that fitness hearing."
The suspect is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon, Jenkins said.
Pearsall, meanwhile, is recovering well after being shot in the chest, 49ers general manager John Lynch said Tuesday.
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"He's doing remarkable," Lynch said. "He's so much better today than he was yesterday. Really, really miraculous. Didn't touch organs. Feels like all the nerve stuff is good. I mean it's pretty remarkable."
Pearsall will miss at least the first four games of the season after being placed on the non-football injury list.
The 49ers said that Pearsall was in Union Square on Saturday shopping for luggage to use for the team's away games.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed spoke with NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai on Tuesday. She was fending off criticism for what she called the “terrible and rare” shooting, by saying the public safety policy in Union Square actually worked.
“A police officer gave aid and they were able to apprehend the suspect and recover the weapon. It happened exactly how it should based on the resources that we have in the downtown union Square area,” she said.
Jenkins said that she was prevented from giving much information at all about the suspect because he is a minor. As for the investigation, police told Jenkins it is still unclear if anyone else was involved. They are taking a good look at the surveillance video from Union Square.
