A Kentucky judge whom authorities said was fatally shot by a sheriff last week was remembered Sunday as a pioneer who fought against opioid addiction and favored treatment over jail for low-level drug offenders.

As residents of a small town in southeast Kentucky mourn the loss of a prominent district judge, they’re looking for answers about the argument that authorities say led up to his killing inside the judge’s chambers and the sheriff’s arrest in his death.

A rural Kentucky town is now at the center of national headlines after police say the local sheriff shot and killed a district judge.