WHITESBURG, KY. -- A judge in a rural Kentucky county was shot and killed at the local courthouse on Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear announced.
A suspect in the shooting has been taken into custody, Kentucky State Police said.
Authorities did not immediately identify the shooting victim or the suspect.
The district judge was shot in his chambers, the governor said in a social media post.
"There is far too much violence in this world, and I pray there is a path to a better tomorrow," Beshear said.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said his office will collaborate with a commonwealth's attorney in the region as special prosecutors in the case.
"We will fully investigate and pursue justice," Coleman said on social media.
The shooting occurred at the Letcher County courthouse in Whitesburg. The Appalachian town in southeastern Kentucky is 146 miles (235 kilometres) southeast of Lexington, Kentucky.
The shooting is being investigated by Kentucky State Police. State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart called it an isolated incident and said there was no threat to the public. But he offered no details about the shooting.
Several area schools were briefly placed on lockdown, including Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College and Letcher County Schools, according to media reports.
