A rural Kentucky county judge was shot to death in his courtroom Thursday, and the local sheriff has been charged with murder, police said.
A preliminary investigation indicates Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines shot District Judge Kevin Mullins multiple times after an argument inside the courthouse, according to Kentucky State Police.
Mullins, who served as judge for 15 years, died at the scene and Stines surrendered without incident.
Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter said he was “shocked by this act of violence” and that the judicial system was “shocked by this news.”
Letcher County Judge-Executive signed an order closing the county courthouse on Friday.
Mullins, 54, was shot multiple times in the shooting, Kentucky State Police said.
Stines, 43, was charged with one count of first-degree murder.
The investigation is continuing, police said.
Responding to the shooting, Gov. Andy Beshear said in a social media post: “There is 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 work with a Commonwealth's attorney in the region as special prosecutors on the criminal case.
