(NewsNation) — A local judge in a small eastern Kentucky town was shot and killed in his chambers Thursday, and the local sheriff is under arrest.
District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was discovered with multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Kentucky State Police. Nobody else was injured.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. “Mickey” Stines, 43, was arrested at the scene. He’s been charged with first-degree murder. Authorities have not commented on a possible motive. The courthouse is in Whitesburg, 146 miles southeast of Lexington.
Stines allegedly walked into the judge’s outer office, then told court employees and others gathered there that he needed to speak with Mullins alone, according to The Mountain Eagle. Shortly after the two walked into the judge’s chambers, shots were heard. Then Stines walked out with his hands up and surrendered to police.
State police said Stines fatally shot Mullins after an argument Thursday afternoon inside the courthouse. Measures were made to attempt to save Mullins’ life but none were successful. No other injuries were reported, according to NewsNation affiliate WJHL.
Trooper Matt Gayheart told NewsNation’s “Banfield” on Thursday night that police “were able to clear the courthouse and make sure there were no additional threats.”
“Detectives are working tirelessly to get answers. But at this point in the investigation, we’re still in that fact-gathering stage. We have a lot of interviews to conduct. We might not know for the next few days, weeks ahead,” Gayheart said. “It’s a tragic situation. It’s not something that we ever want to deal with.”
Court employees were on the sidewalk outside the courthouse in shock following the shooting. Stines was handcuffed in the foyer of the courthouse.
“This community is small in nature, and we’re all shook,” Gayheart said. He added that Stines was cooperating with authorities and described the shooting as an isolated incident.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, whose father, former Gov. Steve Beshear, appointed Mullins to the bench in 2009, issued a statement on the shooting over social media.
Beshear posted that 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 posted a statement on X saying his office “will collaborate with Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 27th Judicial Circuit Jackie Steele as special prosecutors in this case.”
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