One police officer was critical in the moments after Ricky Pearsall was shot.
Piersall, a rookie wide receiver who was the 49ers' first-round draft pick this year, was shot in the chest by a 17-year-old boy during an attempted robbery in San Francisco on Saturday.
San Francisco Police Sergeant Joel Harrell was near the scene when the incident occurred and rushed to the scene after hearing the gunshots. she told the San Francisco Chronicle..
She found Pearsall shirtless and covered in blood and quickly took action.
According to the report, Harrell, a 31-year police officer, told another officer to call an ambulance and began holding Pearsall's shirt over the wound on the front while pressing his hat against the wound on the back.
“I was using my hand in front to create suction to keep air from getting into the wound,” Harrell told the outlet.
Harrell also began questioning Pearsall about the shooter and tried to reassure the 23-year-old former Florida Gators star.
Pearsall asked Harrell if he was planning to die, she said.
They began praying together until the ambulance arrived.
The suspect spotted Pearsall, who had been shopping at Rimowa and Louis Vuitton in the city's Union Square neighborhood, wearing the expensive watch as he returned to his Tesla.
Pearsall was signing autographs before going shopping in the afternoon.
Pearsall's mother, Erin, said the bullet entered his chest and “exited through his back” but missed his vital organs.
Pearsall was released from the hospital on Sunday.
“He, his family and the entire San Francisco 49ers organization would like to express their gratitude to the San Francisco Police Department, Emergency Medical Services and the doctors and staff at San Francisco General Hospital,” the 49ers said in a statement Sunday.
