Teen allegedly shot 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall to check on him: reports citing police

• San Francisco 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall was shot and killed during an alleged robbery in which a 17-year-old attempted to steal his “expensive watch,” according to reports, citing authorities.
• Pearsall was hit in the right side of the chest and is expected to recover.
• The alleged attacker is charged with attempted murder, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and attempted second-degree robbery.

San Francisco 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall was attending a book signing and shopping for luggage when a 17-year-old who allegedly wanted his Rolex stopped him, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The receiver and the teenager were both injured in the incident in Union Square around 3:30 p.m. local time on August 31, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

Pearsall and the teen, who is accused of being a minor, were treated at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.

Pearsall – who was hit in the right side of the chest, the bullet exiting through his back, missing all vital organs and nerves – is expected to recover and return to the field.

“It's just miraculous that he came through this well,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said at a Sept. 3 news conference, noting that the rookie has been placed on the non-football injury list and won't play for “four weeks, at least.”

“When we selected Ricky, we selected him for the long term. And Ricky is going to be a fantastic player here,” Lynch said, adding: “But first and foremost, we're going to make sure he's ready to play, and more than ready by the time we get him back.”

The 17-year-old, charged with attempted murder, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and attempted second-degree robbery, is scheduled to appear in juvenile court for arraignment on Wednesday, September 4 at 1:30 p.m. PST, according to the district attorney's office.

Juvenile cases are largely closed to the public — online records filed for the case were not publicly available Wednesday — and it was not immediately clear whether the teen had retained a lawyer.

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Sergeant Joelle Harrell heard gunshots a block away Saturday and came across the recruit slumped near a mailbox, blood streaming from a gunshot wound to his chest, she told the San Francisco Chronicle.

“He tried to rob me!” Pearsall recalled telling him.

As blood gushed from his chest, he asked her if he was going to die.

“You’re strong,” she repeated, pressing her shirt and her own baseball cap to the wound to stop the bleeding. “Just focus on your breathing.”

Pearsall returned to the team on Monday, September 2, 49ers communications director Kristin Wojcik confirmed to PEOPLE.

“He's doing remarkably well,” Lynch said at the news conference, calling the incident “uncharted territory.”

Lynch, who visited Pearsall in hospital, said some of Pearsall's “early concerns” were “about when he might play.”

“I promise you I’m not injury prone,” he said. Pearsall — the 31st overall pick in April’s draft — tried to reassure him, to which the GM noted he reminded the rookie that getting shot was “out of your control.”

Lynch, who said the team has emphasized “security and vigilance” on the streets of San Francisco, said Pearsall was shopping for luggage for upcoming away games when he was stopped at gunpoint near his car.

“We should be able to do that without worry,” the CEO said of people feeling safe in public.

Experts interviewed by The Chronicle They believe they have identified Pearsall's watch – seen in social media videos from the previous signing – as a Rolex Datejust, valued at around $12,000.

The teen “spotted him for his expensive watch,” said Sergeant Frank Harrell (who is married to the first responder). The Chronicle.

Pearsall also described the alleged shooter as losing his slip-on shoes as he fled the scene before being arrested barefoot nearby, the outlet reported.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement shared with PEOPLE that she would “seek to have the juvenile taken into custody” due to the “risk to public safety.”

Her office also noted that she had not yet decided whether she would request a competency hearing to transfer the case to adult court.

“This case will be tried like any other, in a court of law, not in front of the press,” Jenkins said. “We will follow the facts, the evidence and the law and do our job to get justice.”