The community of Whitesburg, Kentucky is in shock following the aftermath of a shooting resulting in a judge's death and the arrest of the county's sheriff.

They'd been friends for years and were two well-known elected officials. So why would Letcher County's sheriff shoot its only judge in the courthouse?

A Kentucky sheriff has been arrested Thursday in connection with the fatal shooting of a district judge inside a courthouse, Kentucky State Police said.

And the Thursday afternoon shooting left a gaping hole in the judicial system – Mullins was the county’s only judge, and its sheriff is behind bars in Leslie County, facing a first-degree murder charge after he surrendered on the scene.

As residents of a small town in southeast Kentucky mourn the loss of a prominent district judge, they’re looking for answers about the argument that authorities say led up to his killing inside the judge’s chambers and the sheriff’s arrest in his death.