A local sheriff ate lunch with a prominent district judge hours before allegedly shooting the judge in his chambers, according to a court official, who said the killing last Thursday has stunned the small community of Letcher County,

A Kentucky police chief walked into a courthouse and shot dead a district judge in his chambers following a dispute, according to US officials. Shawn Stines, the sheriff of Letcher County, Kentucky, surrendered himself after the murder of Judge Kevin Mullins.

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.