The Latest: Judge sets $2 million bail in Montana shooting

MISSOULA, Mont. — The Latest on a Montana shooting that killed one and injured three(all times local):

4:05 p.m.

A judge has set bail at $2 million for a man accused of fatally shooting one person and injuring three, including a Montana Highway Patrol trooper.

Twenty-eight-year-old Johnathan Bertsch is charged with homicide and attempted homicide. He appeared in court in Missoula on Monday through a video hookup from the jail.

Bertsch is accused of opening fire on a pickup Thursday night, killing one person and injuring two. About an hour later, 35-year-old Trooper Wade Palmer was shot and critically wounded while investigating the earlier shooting.

Palmer was first taken to a Missoula hospital and then transferred to a facility in Utah.

Bertsch was found and arrested the next morning.

He asked for a public defender in Monday’s hearing.

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11:15 a.m.

The wife of a Montana Highway Patrol trooper wounded while investigating a fatal shooting is thanking people from across the country for their support.

In a statement on Monday, Lindsey Palmer extended her gratitude to all those who have offered prayers and positive messages for her husband, Trooper Wade Palmer. She said community support and aid have been a great comfort and has helped the family focus their attention on Palmer, a father of two.

The statement said that Palmer continues to receive care in Salt Lake City. He was initially taken to a Missoula hospital after Thurday’s shooting in critical condition before being transferred to Utah.

Palmer has been a trooper since 2012 and won the law enforcement agency’s highest honour, the Medal of Valor, in 2015.

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This story has been corrected to show the shooting was Thursday, not Friday

.

The Associated Press

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