San Francisco 49ers first-round pick Ricky Pearsall was released from the hospital on Sunday, a day after he was shot during an attempted robbery in San Francisco's Union Square, the team said.
The 49ers posted on social media Sunday afternoon that Pearsall was released from the hospital as "he continues to recover from a bullet wound to his chest."
Pearsall, 23, was shot in the chest in San Francisco's Union Square on Saturday. San Francisco police said suspect attempted to rob Pearsall, which led to a physical altercation. They added that the 17-year-old suspect from Tracy was arrested but no formal charges were placed.
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Both Pearsall and the suspect were transported to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital for "further medical evaluation."
Erin Pearsall, the mother of the 49ers' rookie wide receiver, posted an encouraging update on her son earlier Sunday morning.
“First and (foremost), I want to thank GOD for protecting my baby boy,” she wrote on Facebook. “He was extremely lucky. God shielded him.”
San Francisco Mayor London Breed roamed Union Square on Sunday and reaffirmed that safety is of the utmost importance to her.
"We have had an increased presence of police officers in the Union Square area," Breed said. "Typically, on the weekends, there is an increased police presence, but in light of the events yesterday, we have increased it even more so to address some of the concerns people may have."
San Francisco Supervisor Aarom Peskin, whose district the shooting happened in, also spoke out.
"My thoughts and prayers are with Ricky and his family," Peskin said. 'We want him out of the hospital and back on the field, and I also want to commend the SFPD who were there in literally seconds. They heard the gunshots and apprehended the suspect as the suspect was fleeing."
Peskin initially confirmed the incident to NBC Bay Area on Saturday.
At a news conference on the night of the shooting, 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.”
Prior to the news conference, 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 game play, first-round receiver Pearsall missed the entire 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 Florida alumnus experienced his latest subluxation on Aug. 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.
Christie Smith and NBC Sports Bay Area contributed to the report.
