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 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.

A Kentucky sheriff is facing charges of first-degree murder after shooting and killing a local judge inside his chambers last week. Kentucky State Police say Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines shot District Judge Kevin Mullins several times following a short argument. Stines turned himself in to police without incident.