Investigators are trying to determine why a Kentucky sheriff allegedly shot and killed a district judge after they argued inside the judge’s chambers, according to Kentucky State Police. District Judge Kevin Mullins,

A judge was fatally shot in his chambers by a local sheriff after an argument at a courthouse in Whitesburg, Ky., on Thursday, state police say. District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Residents of a tiny Appalachian town are struggling to cope with a shooting involving two of its most prominent citizens: a Kentucky judge who was gunned down in his courthouse chambers and the local sheriff charged with his murder.