A small, tight-knit southeast Kentucky community has been reeling after their sheriff was arrested for the killing of a prominent district judge in his chambers Thursday – spurring residents to wonder what could have triggered the shooting and prompting calls for better courthouse security.

Stines, 43, shot District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, on Thursday afternoon after an argument inside the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg, Kentucky.Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

WHITESBURG, Ky. — The sheriff charged with murder in the shooting of a rural Kentucky judge in his courthouse chambers was accused in a federal lawsuit of failing to investigate allegations that one of his deputies repeatedly sexually abused a woman in the same judge’s chambers.

The two men were seen getting ready to go to lunch on the day of the shooting. Hours later, Judge Kevin Mullins was dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

A sheriff is charged with first degree murder after a district judge was shot and killed inside the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg, Kentucky, police said.

The preliminary investigation indicates Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines shot District Judge Kevin Mullins multiple times following an argument inside the courthouse, according to Kentucky State Police. Mullins, who held the judgeship for 15 years, died at the scene, and Stines surrendered without incident.

The police say a sheriff shot District Judge Kevin Mullins inside the courthouse on Thursday afternoon before turning himself in.

After word spread that Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines was charged with first-degree murder, and that Kevin Mullins, a district judge, had been shot, Kentucky leaders and community members saw yet another local act of gun violence make national news.

A sheriff charged with murder in the shooting of a rural Kentucky judge in his courthouse chambers is accused in a federal lawsuit of ignoring abuse by one of his deputies, who later pleaded guilty to

Kentucky District Judge Kevin Mullins was shot and killed by a sheriff while in his chambers. Gov. Andy Beshear rebuked the violence in a public statement.