BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) – A berry picker shot by a hunter after being mistaken for a bear asked the shooter to call police and get him medical attention, but the hunter fled, prosecutors said.

Douglas Bartlett, 50, of Jacksonville was shot in the woods of Whitingham early Saturday evening by Brian D. Gilbert, prosecutors said.

“He left the scene after the killing and after talking with the victim,” said Windham County Deputy State’s Attorney David Gartenstein in Vermont District Court Tuesday. “He did not seek help.”

Gilbert, 26, of Charlemont, Mass., pleaded innocent on Tuesday to a felony charge of second-degree murder and was held on $25,000 cash bail. If convicted he could face life in prison.

Police said Gilbert thought Bartlett was a bear when he shot him once in the shoulder. The bullet traveled through Bartlett’s chest cavity and punctured both lungs, according to an autopsy conducted over the weekend.

Gilbert briefly spoke with Bartlett, before the victim “exhaled and fell backwards from his knees” and died, court documents said.

“The defendant did speak with (Bartlett) very briefly after the shooting,” said State Police Detective Sgt. William Jenkins on Tuesday. “(Bartlett) asked him for help, he asked him to call 911.”

Gilbert, who has been held at the Springfield prison since his arrest Sunday, walked into the courtroom Tuesday with his legs and arms shackled. He wore a gray T-shirt and pants and appeared not to have shaved in several days.

According to court documents, Gilbert spent Saturday hunting in the Whitingham woods with his younger brother. Sometime between 5 and 6 p.m., the two saw what appeared to be an animal in some bushes; Gilbert allegedly aimed through his scope and fired, police said.

“He advised that he heard a moan, and was initially excited because he thought he shot a bear,” Jenkins wrote in his affidavit. “He advised that he started running toward the direction he shot and heard a person asking for help.”

The brothers panicked, ran back to their truck and drove home, according to court documents.

Gilbert and his brother returned to the scene around 10 p.m. to see if the body was discovered yet and fled again when they saw state troopers there, court documents state. An uncle alerted Massachusetts police Sunday that one of his nephews had shot someone while hunting in Vermont.

Bartlett’s body was discovered shortly after 11 p.m. in some bushes near his car, police said.