A sheriff in Kentucky is accused of fatally capturing a district decide at a courthouse Thursday afternoon, authorities stated.
Judge Kevin Mullins was in his district workplace when he was shot shortly earlier than 3 p.m., and Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines has been detained within the slaying, Kentucky State Police stated Thursday night time.
Stines, a two-term sheriff, is predicted to be charged with homicide, state police stated.
No motive within the capturing was disclosed.
Investigators had been “making an attempt to get solutions to what led as much as the precise capturing,” State Trooper Matt Gayheart stated at a night information convention.
The decide was shot a number of occasions after an argument with Stines, state police stated.
Other folks had been within the constructing when the capturing occurred, however no one else was within the decide’s chambers, Gayheart stated. Stines turned himself in to authorities on the scene, Gayheart stated, including that he believes there may be surveillance video throughout the courthouse.
The Letcher County Courthouse is in Whitesburg, about 200 miles southeast of Louisville.
The small neighborhood was “shook” by the lethal violence, Gayheart stated.
“We might use everyone’s prayers. Say prayers for the household that they get by means of this troublesome time,” he stated.
Relatives for Mullins and Stines weren’t reached for remark Thursday.
According to a Letcher County web site, Mullins was a decide within the forty seventh Judicial District, overseeing juvenile issues, metropolis and county ordinances, misdemeanors, site visitors offenses, arraignments, felony possible trigger hearings, claims involving $2,500 or much less, civil circumstances involving $5,000 or much less, voluntary and involuntary psychological commitments and home violence circumstances.
The Kentucky Court of Justice, the state court docket system, stated it’s working with the state police.
“While the investigation is ongoing, we’re dedicated to offering help in any method that we will,” the court docket stated in an announcement. “Our deepest sympathies exit to all these impacted by this tragic occasion, and our ideas and prayers are with the neighborhood throughout this difficult time.”
Attorney General Russell Coleman promised a full investigation.
“Following the lethal capturing in Letcher County, our Office will collaborate with Commonwealth’s Attorney for the twenty seventh Judicial Circuit Jackie Steele as particular prosecutors on this case. We will totally examine and pursue justice,” Coleman stated on X.