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.

A Kentucky district court judge was shot and killed Thursday afternoon after an argument with a local sheriff, law-enforcement officials said. Kevin Mullins, a 54-year-old district county judge, was shot multiple times inside the Letcher County Courthouse,