A small, tight-knit southeast Kentucky community has been reeling after their sheriff was arrested for the killing of a prominent district judge in his chambers Thursday – spurring residents to wonder what could have triggered the shooting and prompting calls for better courthouse security.

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.

The police say a sheriff shot District Judge Kevin Mullins inside the courthouse on Thursday afternoon before turning himself in.