Judge sets bail at $500,000 for gunman in Facebook-triggered fight in Thurston County

The three men arrested for their role in a fight triggered by Facebook that escalated into a shooting appeared in Thurston County Superior Court on Monday.

The three defendants were Tyler A. Thompson, 22; Austin M. Chase, 23; and Tanner M. Bickle, 22.

Thompson was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in the first degree with a deadly weapon, and two counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon. Chase and Bickle were arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, according to charging documents.

An update on the medical status of the shooting victim, who also is in his 20s, was not immediately available. Thurston County Deputy Prosecutor Ali Abid said the man was likely to lose a kidney.

Judge John Skinder set bail for Thompson at $500,000, although Abid argued that the crime was serious enough for him to refuse bail. Failing that, he asked for $1 million, saying the victim's family was terrified. He also said that after Thompson was taken into custody, authorities overheard a phone conversation where he allegedly threatened to kill someone.

But public defender Angela Colaiuta said that additional information was well beyond the scope of a probable cause hearing. Skinder agreed and set bail at $500,000. Bail was set at $150,000 for Chase and $100,000 for Bickle. In Bickle's case, Colaiuta argued that he was mentioned only once in the probable cause documents.

Charging documents give the following account:

About 5 a.m. Sunday, in a neighborhood northeast of The Evergreen State College, Thompson, Chase and Bickle showed up at the victim's home on Red Fern Drive Northwest to "fight (the victim) over comments made on Facebook."

In all, there were five men: the victim, his friend, and Thompson, Chase and Bickle. All decided to go to a nearby park to settle their dispute. Once at the park, the victim's friend said that it needed to be a fair fight, so he argued for it to be one on one with the victim.

That's when Thompson allegedly pulled out a gun and told the victim's friend to "back off."

A fight ensued, with the victim getting his head pushed through a fence. The victim and his friend eventually escaped through that hole in the fence and started to walk back to the victim's home. The victim later told police that Chase initially had the gun and had pistol-whipped him.

As they walked back, the other men drove by in a Ford Focus. Thompson, who was on the driver's side of the vehicle, fired two shots at the victim, hitting him in the stomach and on his side, and he collapsed on the front lawn.

The victim later underwent surgery at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia. His body had an entry and exit wound, but a bullet was not found.

This story was originally published July 2, 2018 at 10:07 AM.