Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was fatally shot in a courthouse at Whitesburg, Kentucky, on Thursday afternoon, according to Kentucky State Police.

A judge was shot and killed in his courthouse chambers Thursday, and the local sheriff was charged with murder, police said.

A district judge in Kentucky was fatally shot in his chambers Thursday afternoon, Gov. Andy Beshear said. "Sadly, I have been informed that a district judge in Letcher County was shot and killed in his chambers this afternoon," the governor wrote on X. "There is far too much violence in this world, and I pray there is a path to a better tomorrow."