49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall watches practice 5 days after shooting

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was at practice as a spectator five days after being shot in the chest during an attempted robbery.

Pearsall was shot in the chest and hospitalized overnight following the shooting in downtown San Francisco on Saturday. He was released Sunday and was back at the team facility on Monday.

He spent the first part of practice, open to reporters, walking around the field holding a soccer ball.

“It’s amazing to see,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “The fact that he can walk and all that, talking to the emergency room people and they say out of 100 people, two survive. To be able to see him the next day and see that he can walk, that he comes to meetings, that he does all that.”

The Niners placed Pearsall on the non-football injury list, which will keep him out for at least four weeks, giving him time to recover physically and emotionally from the shooting.

Shanahan said Pearsall plans to take a week or so off before beginning his rehab process to get back on the field.

Pearsall was walking alone with shopping bags to his car shortly after 3:30 p.m. Saturday when a juvenile suspect attempted to rob him with a gun in the Union Square area, authorities said. The 17-year-old was arraigned in juvenile court on attempted murder charges Wednesday.

Officers on the scene responded immediately and provided emergency medical assistance and arrested the suspect. A witness showed Pearsall on video with a large wound to his chest as he was helped into an ambulance.

Pearsall was lucky that the bullet passed through his body without damaging any organs or nerves.

“The spot where he was shot is about two inches below his tattoo of his praying hands,” Shanahan said. “The whole story is pretty amazing.”

Shanahan said the first moments after the shooting were terrifying because he didn’t know the extent of Pearsall’s injuries, but he was quickly assured that Pearsall was OK.

Pearsall then FaceTimed his coach and later did the same with his teammates who were gathered for a party at Shanahan’s house Saturday night.

“Thank God he’s alive with us today,” All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner said. “It was a crazy situation and I’m just so happy he’s back here with us.”

Pearsall was selected in the first round in April by the 49ers with the 31st overall pick, but injuries have slowed him since joining the team.

He missed time during training camp with hamstring and shoulder issues before returning to practice last week in a blue non-contact jersey while his shoulder heals.

Pearsall began his college career at Arizona State and transferred to Florida for his final two seasons. He had 65 receptions for 965 yards and four touchdowns last season for the Gators and finished his college career with 159 receptions for 2,420 yards and 14 touchdowns.

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