WHEN AN ATHLETE IS SHOT IN A SHOPPING DISTRICT, CITIES NEED URGENT HELP

Ricky Pearsall thought he was in Union Square on a Saturday afternoon, but there is no hope in many American downtowns, where a rookie can be attacked in crime-ridden areas with no advance warning

     The area of Geary Street and Grant Avenue includes a Hermes store, along with Dolce & Gabbana and Goyard. It’s located a block east of Union Square, which should have been harmless enough for Ricky Pearsall to wander on a Saturday afternoon.

     Isn’t that Prada? Saint Laurent? Chanel? Cartier? Gucci? He was a long Steph Curry heave from the Four Seasons hotel, where NBA teams stay.

     But as someone who lived in San Francisco, until the crime and the homeless plague grew horrifying, I realize a rookie receiver for the 49ers isn’t safe from a robber in what seems a shopper’s paradise. Pearsall was shot in the chest by a 17-year-old male from a distant town — Tracy, 62 miles east — and was bleeding down his left arm. Five shell casings were found at Geary and Grant while frightened people ran through the streets. In a miracle, Pearsall’s mother reported the gunman’s bullet missed essential organs as it passed through his chest. He was released from the hospital Sunday.

     “Extremely lucky. I want to thank GOD for protecting my baby boy,” Erin Pearsall wrote on Facebook. “He is extremely lucky, GOD shielded him. He was shot in the chest and it exited out his back. Thanks be to GOD it missed his vital organs. He is in good spirits right now.”

     “He’s good … Thank god,” teammate Deebo Samuel posted.

     This could have happened in any number of America’s downtown regions. But I live in California, where I worried upon entering and exiting a BART train after a late-night sports event in the Bay Area. Now I live on the west side of Los Angeles, where taking a train to Crypto.com Arena used to be fun but has become sketchy. The problem in fake cities — known as beautiful global destinations — is a state of lawlessness in popular neighborhoods.

     “A terrible and rare occurrence,” Mayor London Breed said. “Robberies and any violence like this will not be tolerated in our city. San Francisco has a lower violent crime rate compared to most major cities in the country. But statistics don’t matter when incidents like this occur.”

     Does Breed spend any time in her city? Is she mindless? Last month, a student was shot near Ghirardelli Square as Breed “partied in Chicago” at the Democratic National Convention, said Mark Farrell, her rival in an upcoming election. The Tenderloin is a hellhole where the police chief, William Scott, wants armed National Guard troops. The Giants say homeless issues prevent free agents from signing with the team at Oracle Park. Why does Breed protect herself by praising crime rates after dreadful scenes? Such is the trouble in Los Angeles with Mayor Karen Bass, who also was partying in Paris while Gov. Gavin Newsom navigated homeless issues.

     “Enough is enough,” Farrell tweeted. “If we want public safety in San Francisco, then we need change in City Hall.”

     Countered another mayoral candidate, Aaron Peskin: “Real leaders decry this violence and express sorrow for the victim and support the San Francisco police department for good work rather than capitalizing on this as a political opportunity. It’s easy to say, ‘Increase the police budget.’ It’s harder to actually recruit new officers. No other part of San Francisco has the police coverage that Union Square has. We can have a public policy discussion about increasing the police budget without using it for political gain.”

     So on and on we go, politicians blaming each other, as a football playmaker is shot. “He and his family, along with the entire San Francisco 49ers organization, would like to thank the San Francisco Police Department, emergency medical services, doctors and staff at San Francisco General Hospital,” the 49ers said from Santa Clara.

     Pearsall was signing autographs at the Cow Palace when he ventured into the heart of the city. He has been limited in practice with shoulder and hamstring issues, and at this point, coach Kyle Shanahan must hope the first-round draft choice is recovering. Every week of the local NFL season is impacted by what happened by Union Square.

     Who ever thought sports executives must counsel rookies about where to hang out on off days? My first reaction: Why wasn’t Pearsall in the South Bay, where the 49ers play 50 miles away from San Francisco at Levi’s Stadium?

     His life may have been saved because he took on his assailant, which led to the teenager wounding himself with his gun after he noticed Pearsall holding shopping bags. “A struggle between Mr. Pearsall and the suspect ensued and gunfire from the suspect's gun struck both Mr. Pearsall and the subject," Scott said. “I am extremely shocked and saddened about the shooting. This kind of violence has no place in our city and will never be tolerated.”

     Yet, it’s tolerated and keeps happening.

     Who’s next?

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     Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.