A judge was shot dead in his office by a local sheriff on Thursday after an argument broke out at a courthouse in Whitesburg, Kentucky, state police said.

District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was pronounced dead at the scene. Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. (“Mickey”) Stines, 43, was arrested and charged with murder.

“Sadly, I have been informed that a district judge in Letcher County was shot in his office this afternoon,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear wrote in a post on X“There is far too much violence in this world and I pray there is a way to a better future.”

What happened?

The shooting occurred around 2:55 p.m. Thursday when Kentucky State Police received a 911 call from the Letcher County Courthouse “reporting shots fired from inside the building,” Trooper Matt Gayheart said in a Facebook post.

Several police and emergency services arrived at the scene and found Mullins suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. “Life-saving measures were attempted but were unsuccessful,” Gayheart said.

Stines was arrested at the scene without incident and charged with murder.

Mike Watts, the clerk of the Letcher County Circuit Court, told the Associated Press that he saw Mullins and Stines in the judge’s chambers about three hours before the shooting when he went in to ask Mullins to sign some papers. Mullins and Stines were about to go to lunch together, Watts said.

“It seemed like a completely normal interaction, except that Stines seemed calmer than usual,” Watts told AP.

What were the reactions?

The shooting sent shockwaves through Whitesburg, a town of about 1,700 residents 145 miles southeast of Lexington.

“This community is small by nature,” Gayheart said at a press conference Thursday evening. “And we are all devastated.”

Matt Butler, Letcher County’s lead prosecutor, said in a statement that he was recusing himself from the case because he had close family ties to the slain judge.

“We all know each other here. For example, anyone from Letcher County would tell you that Judge Mullins and I married two sisters and that we have children who are first cousins ​​but act like siblings,” Butler said. “For that reason, among others, I have already taken steps to impartiality to myself and my entire office.”

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said his office would appoint special prosecutors to “conduct a comprehensive investigation and seek justice.”

What we know about the victim and the suspect

Mullins has served as a district judge in Kentucky’s 47th District Court in Letcher County since 2010. Before his appointment as judge, Mullins was an assistant district attorney in Letcher County, focusing primarily on drug offenses, according to CNN.

The AP noted that Mullins “was known for his advocacy of substance abuse treatment for people involved in the justice system and helped hundreds of residents obtain residential treatment.”

He had recently been appointed to a state judicial commission on mental health.

Stines was elected sheriff in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. According to the New York Times, while sheriff, Stines was named as a defendant in two federal lawsuits, including one “involving a former deputy accused of sexually assaulting an inmate.”