Charges against Kentucky sheriff for fatal shooting of judge in courthouse shock public

A small community in eastern Kentucky is shaken and searching for answers after a Letcher County sheriff was arrested and charged with the murder of Judge Kevin Mullins, who was shot to death in his district office Thursday afternoon.

Letcher County Prosecutor Matt Butler said the community was “completely devastated” and asked for prayers for the judge's family.

“Anyone who knows Letcher County knows that families always remain close-knit and come even closer together in times of unspeakable tragedy like today,” he said in a statement late Thursday. “I know personally that the definition of family can extend beyond biological kinship, and I urge everyone to remember that our community is a safe and welcoming place.”

Butler said his children and Mullins' children are first cousins ​​but “act like siblings.” He said his children “have been crying and crying and begging to see their uncle.”

The shooting occurred shortly before 3 p.m. at the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg, about 220 miles southeast of Louisville. Two-term Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines was arrested and charged with murder, Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart said.

The motive is still unclear, but Gayheart said preliminary information suggests Stines “shot Mullins after an argument in the courthouse.”

Mullins, 54, was shot multiple times and died at the scene. Stines, 43, turned himself in to authorities at the courthouse.

There were other people in the building, but there was no one else in the judge's room.

Laurance B. VanMeter, chief justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court, said he was “shocked” and the “court system is devastated by this news.”

“My prayers are with his family and the Letcher County community as they try to process and mourn this tragic loss. I ask for respect and privacy on their behalf,” he said in a statement.

Following the shooting, county and district courts and the clerk's office were closed “until court operations can resume,” the Kentucky court said.

The case is being handled by Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman and 27th Judicial District Attorney Jackie Steele. Butler said in his statement that he and his office recused themselves from the case because of his family relationship with Mullins.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com.