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.

A Kentucky State Police spokesman said shots were fired inside the Letcher County Courthouse at 2:55 p.m. after an argument between Stines and Mullins. Mullins was pronounced dead at the scene. Here's a look at a few statements about the shooting on social media.

The fatal shooting stunned the tight-knit town of Whitesburg, the county seat, with a population of about 1,700 people, 145 miles southeast of Lexington.