A judge in a rural Kentucky county was shot and killed in his courthouse chambers Thursday, and the local sheriff was charged with murder, 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
Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter said he was “shocked by this act of violence” and that the court system was “shaken by this news.”
Letcher County’s judge-executive signed an order closing the county courthouse on Friday.
Mullins, 54, was hit 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 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 criminal case.
