A Kentucky sheriff has been arrested after fatally shooting a judge in his chambers, police say.
District Judge Kevin Mullins died at the scene after being shot multiple times in the Letcher County Courthouse, Kentucky State Police said.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Stines, 43, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder.
The shooting happened on Thursday after an argument inside the court, police said, but they have not yet revealed a motive.
When immoral crimes go unpunished due to a corrupt legal system, violence often follows. That judge isn’t the first, nor will be the last, to learn that claiming to be “above the law” offers no real protection. A fair and functional legal system is essential for a less violent society. When justice isn’t applied equally, violence rises. Laws don’t prevent violence—they only punish it afterward. I imagine many people’s last words were some version of “too bad, because that’s illegal.”