49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall shot during robbery in San Francisco

San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall is in stable condition after a 17-year-old shot him during a broad-daylight robbery Saturday in Union Square, police said.

Pearsall — a 23-year-old Phoenix native and the 49ers’ first-round pick in the last NFL draft — was walking past 77 Geary St. around 3:30 p.m. when the teenager walked up and pointed a gun at him, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

A struggle ensued that culminated with both Pearsall and the would-be robber getting shot, SFPD Chief Bill Scott told reporters outside San Francisco General Hospital, where the victim and suspect were still hospitalized Saturday evening.

Officers responded “almost immediately,” Scott said, and arrested the suspect — a Tracy resident — while he was trying to run away from the crime scene.

Video filmed by a witness in the aftermath of the shooting shows Pearsall walking toward an ambulance, where paramedics guide him onto a gurney before rushing him to the ER a few miles away.

“This kind of violence is simply unacceptable in our city,” Scott said hours later from a podium by the General Hospital’s ambulance bay.

Mayor London Breed, who offered her condolences to Pearsall and his family on social media promptly after the shooting, reiterated her sympathies at the press conference alongside the police chief and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.

“This was a terrible and rare incident in Union Square and our thoughts are with Ricky Pearsall and his family,” Breed said. “He has a bright future and I look forward to seeing him recover and get back on the field.”

Jenkins said the investigation is ongoing and that her office will decide what charges to bring against the alleged shooter by the middle of next week. But she confirmed that the case will be prosecuted in juvenile court.

“It should be clear, one, that the police department in this city will do its job to make sure that those who are committing any crime — let alone a crime like this — will get caught,” Jenkins said. “And I also want to make it clear that when that happens and my office takes over, that there will be accountability for those who commit these types of acts in San Francisco.”

SFPD urged anyone with information about the shooting to call inspectors at (415) 575-4444 or text tips beginning with “SFPD” to TIP411.

The 49ers didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

KTVU reporter Sal Castaneda broke the news less than an hour after the shooting, saying Pearsall was targeted for his Rolex watch.

In the hours to follow, Pearsall’s teammates posted words of support online.

Fellow 49ers wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk expressed relief about Pearsall coming away from the violent encounter in stable condition.

As word of the shooting spread, San Francisco political figures — including mayoral contenders Daniel Lurie and Mark Farrell — also took to social media to comment on the incident.

“No one — whether they live, work, or visit our beloved city — should ever have to fear for their safety in San Francisco,” Lurie wrote on X. “This senseless violence must end.”

Farrell noted how the shooting is part of a rash of gun violence in the city, where an 8-year-old girl was struck by a stray bullet just a day earlier.

“Enough is enough,” he wrote on X. “If we want public safety in San Francisco, then we need change in City Hall.”

The mayor pushed back against the narrative that the city is dangerous.

“We know San Francisco has the lowest violent crime rates than most major cities in this country,” Breed said at the press conference. “But statistics don’t matter when incidents like this occur. What matters is supporting the victim and holding those accountable who break our laws and endanger the lives others.”

Despite the recent spate of shootings, reported crimes have dramatically declined in San Francisco this year, falling by about a third compared to late August last year. Robberies, meanwhile, dropped by 22% compared to the same timeframe in 2023.