WHITESBURG, Ky. (AP) — A judge in a rural Kentucky county was shot and killed at the local courthouse on Thursday, and the local sheriff was charged in the shocking slaying, police said.
The governor said the judge was fatally shot in his chambers. The preliminary investigation indicates that the sheriff shot Mullins following an argument inside the courthouse, police said.
District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was hit multiple times in the shooting, Kentucky State Police said. The judge was pronounced dead at the scene.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines, 43, was taken into custody at the scene without incident, police said. He was charged with one count of first-degree murder.
The investigation is continuing, police said.
Responding to the shooting in a social media post, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said: “There is far too much violence in this world, and I pray there is a path to a better tomorrow.”
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said his office will collaborate with a commonwealth’s attorney in the region as special prosecutors in the case.
“We will fully investigate and pursue justice,” Coleman said on social media.
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