Juveniles, Bullets and Silence in San Francisco
Keion White, defensive lineman for the San Francisco 49ers, has emerged from surgery after being shot in the ankle at a Super Bowl party early Monday morning on Mission Street in downtown San Francisco. White had reportedly been involved in an argument about rapper “Lil Baby” and according to police an “unknown suspect” shot the 49er.
This was not the first time a 49er had taken a bullet. On the afternoon of August 31, 2024, 49ers draft pick Ricky Pearsall was shopping near Union Square when a man approached and demanded his watch.
Pearsall wasn’t giving it up and in the ensuing struggle took a gunshot in the chest. The bullet hit no vital organs and Pearsall survived. Police quickly apprehended the shooter, who was not named.
“Police in San Francisco have identified a 17-year-old boy” in the shooting of Pearsall, NBC news reported. According to CNN, “a 17-year-old boy attempted to rob Pearsall at gunpoint as he was walking alone at around 3:30 p.m. PT, when an altercation broke out between the two, resulting in both of them suffering injuries.”
Anyone under age 16 could rob and murder the entire 49ers team … serve time only in juvenile prison, and gain release at age 25.
People concerned about crime might spot a problem here. A male criminal suspect of 17 years merits description as a “juvenile” or “teen.” The “altercation” did not just “break out.” In the face of obvious danger, Ricky Pearsall bravely fought back.
A gunshot to the chest is a “wound,” not an “injury,” which implies some sort of accident. This was an armed robbery. The 17-year old could not legally own a gun, so California’s myriad gun laws did not prevent the criminal from acquiring what news reports called a “semi-automatic firearm.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom, former mayor of San Francisco, and state attorney general Rob Bonta, did not condemn the shooter or denounce the attack on Pearsall as “gun violence.” No photos of the shooter appeared, and he was described as a high-school senior from Tracy, California, some 70 miles from San Francisco.
In 2016, California’s Proposition 57 took away prosecutors’ ability to try juveniles as adults. San Francisco district attorney Brooke Jenkins told reporters, “there are five crime types for 16 and 17-year-olds, for which we would consider potentially seeking to transfer them to adult court. Attempted murder is one of those charges. And so again, it was for consideration.”
In September 2025, judge Denise de Bellefeuille ruled that the assailant would be tried as a juvenile. At this writing, no word of any trial or sentence, and the shooter remains unidentified.
In California, violent criminals can rob and shoot people like Ricky Pearsall with complete anonymity, but there’s more to it. In September 2019, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1391, which bars all prosecution of those under 16 in adult court.
Anyone under age 16 could rob and murder the entire 49ers team, be tried only in juvenile court, serve time only in juvenile prison, and gain release at age 25. At this writing, Gov. Newsom and attorney general Bonta have issued no official statement on the shooting of Keion White, and the suspect has yet to be identified.
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Lloyd Billingsley is a policy fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif.