A US police chief has shot and killed district judge in courtroom.
After he shot and murdered a district court judge in the southern US state of Kentucky, the county sheriff has been charged with murder.
The Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper stated that Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines was placed under arrest for a gunshot that occurred in the Letcher County courtroom.
According to CBS News, he was charged with one count of first-degree murder.
The source was informed by a police spokesperson that the shooting happened following a disagreement between Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, and Stines in the latter’s office.
A motive for the incident has not yet been disclosed by the investigators.
The incident was verified by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear in a post on X, previously Twitter.
“Sadly, I have been informed that a district judge in Letcher County was shot and killed in his chambers this afternoon,” Beshear said.
“There is far too much violence in this world, and I pray there is a path to a better tomorrow.”
In the United States, where there are more guns than people, gun violence is widespread.
Five individuals were hurt by a man’s bullet on a Kentucky roadway earlier this month.
Wednesday saw the discovery of the gunman’s body following a 10-day manhunt.
Polls indicate that Americans want stricter gun laws, yet attempts to restrict gun rights are always greeted with strong political opposition because of the strong gun rights lobby, constitutional safeguards, and passionate culture around gun ownership.
Still in the United States, Harvey Weinstein, a disgraced Hollywood film producer, has entered a not-guilty plea on Wednesday in response to a fresh accusation of sex crimes in New York.
In a wheelchair, Weinstein, 72, entered his plea to one count of engaging in criminal sexual conduct in a Manhattan courtroom.
Weinstein underwent emergency heart surgery a little over a week ago.
The once-powerful Hollywood magnate made a brief court appearance before Judge Curtis Farber, unshaven, pallid, and weak. He had on a blue tie, a white shirt, and a black suit.
According to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Weinstein was charged with a new crime on April 29, 2006, for allegedly sexually assaulting a lady in a lower Manhattan hotel between May 6, 2006, and April 29, 2006.
“Thanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent sexual assault,” Bragg said in a statement.
“This investigation is ongoing,” he added.
Weinstein’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, told reporters during the hearing that the latest complaint stems from an alleged sexual assault that occurred “almost two decades ago” and that “at this moment I don’t know much more than that.”
Weinstein was found guilty of rape in California and is currently serving a 16-year prison term.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said his office will collaborate with a commonwealth’s attorney in the region as special prosecutors in the criminal case.
“We will fully investigate and pursue justice,” Coleman said on social media.
Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter said he was “shocked by this act of violence” and that the court system was “shaken by this news.”
There is an order closing on Friday the county courthouse where the shooting took place.
Mullins, 54, was hit multiple times in the shooting, Kentucky State Police said. Stines, 43, was charged with one count of first-degree murder. The investigation is continuing, police said.