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

A sheriff charged with murder in the shooting of a rural Kentucky judge in his courthouse chambers is accused in a federal lawsuit of ignoring abuse by one of his deputies, who later pleaded guilty to forcing a woman to have sex in the same judge’s chambers.

Preliminary investigation indicates Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines shot District Judge Kevin Mullins multiple times following an argument inside the courthouse, according to Kentucky State Police.

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.

District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was pronounced dead at the scene. Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines, 43, was arrested and charged with his murder.

A sheriff is charged with first degree murder after a district judge was shot and killed inside the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg, Kentucky, police said.

The sheriff charged with murder in the shooting of a rural Kentucky judge in his courthouse chambers was accused in a federal lawsuit of failing to investigate allegations that one of his deputies repeatedly sexually abused a woman in the same judge’s chambers.

The preliminary investigation indicates Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines shot District Judge Kevin Mullins multiple times following an argument inside the courthouse.

The fatal shooting stunned the tight-knit town of Whitesburg, the county seat, with a population of about 1,700 people, 145 miles southeast of Lexington.