A Superior Court judge for Orange County, California, was arrested late Thursday on suspicion of murder after police found his wife dead in their home.

Jeffrey Ferguson, 72, was taken into custody by Anaheim police after authorities forced themselves into his home without incident and found that 65-year-old Sheryl Ferguson had been shot at least once, The Los Angeles Times reported. Ferguson’s wife was pronounced dead at the scene, and officers arrested Ferguson at the Anaheim Hills home. He was booked into an Orange County jail on $1 million bail.

Law enforcement sources told the Times that a son of the couple was at the home at the time of the shooting. The son, who is in his 20s, was questioned by police after the shooting, KTLA reported. A neighbor of the Fergusons told the news outlet that the couple had lived there for over 20 years.

The judge’s colleagues were stunned when they heard about Ferguson’s arrest on suspicion of murder.

“Absolutely shocked. I had them sit on my couch. I would never have thought this for a minute,” one colleague said.

Ferguson was elected to the Superior Court of Orange County in June 2014 after he began his career as an Orange County Deputy District Attorney in 1983, according to his bio. Ten years after he started his career, Ferguson was promoted to Senior Deputy District Attorney and assigned to the Major Narcotics Enforcement Team.

Ferguson’s wife Sheryl worked for the Santa Barbara and Orange County Probation Departments before working for the American Funds Service Co., where she spent 20 years.

The judge was reprimanded in 2017 by California’s Commission on Judicial Performance for comments he made on Facebook about an election that included one of his fellow judges, according to the Times. During the 2016 election, Judge Scott Steiner was running for reelection against Karen Schatzle, a senior deputy district attorney for the county. According to the commission, Schatzle posted a comment on a Facebook page on April 26, 2016, writing, “Scott Steiner uses his office for sex and yet so many aren’t concerned, crazy politics!”

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Ferguson replied to the comment, posting, “Karen Shatzle has sex with defense lawyer whike [sic] shw [sic] is DA on his cases and nobody cares. Interesting politics.”

The commission ruled that Ferguson acted with “reckless disregard for the truth” because he could not provide any support for his accusation. The commission’s admonition of the judge didn’t affect his position, and he won re-election in 2020.

The president of a Wyoming tennis association has resigned in protest after a trans-identifying male was allowed to compete against women in a tournament.

Jackie Fulkrod stepped down from her position as president of the Cheyenne Tennis Association board, saying she opposed trans-identifying male player Brooklyn Ross competing against women in the Wyoming Governor’s Cup this weekend.

“I think a man playing against a woman is a very unfair matchup when it’s specifically meant for women in that specific draw,” Fulkrod told the Cowboy State Daily. “I feel like having a transgender athlete compete in the women’s draw is against my personal integrity and what I believe and value.”

“My decision to resign was solely based on the fact that we didn’t have any way to protect our organization or protect our female athletes that are going to be playing in the tournament,” Fulkrod told the outlet.

Her mother, Mary Fulkrod, who also sat on the eight-member board, resigned as well.

Ross, a 27-year-old trans-identifying male athlete from Colorado, is set to compete in the women’s open singles division of the tournament this weekend. He has played in tournaments across the country, and just finished his junior year at the University of Texas at Tyler, an NCAA Division II school.

Ross is 6 feet tall and reportedly one of the best players on the team. He began identifying as female and going through the gender transition process six years ago.

“They probably haven’t had the experience of any trans woman being able to play, and I’m glad to be able to be able to [sic] kind of stand up for some of those people without a voice,” Ross told the Cowboy State Daily. “Kids that have to choose between their authenticity and playing a game.”

The Wyoming Governor’s Cup can be used to raise players’ United States Tennis Association ranking, which college coaches often consider in recruitment decisions. The Governor’s Cup tournament is governed by the United States Tennis Association (USTA).

Tournament director Peg Connor, who also is executive director of the Wyoming Tennis Association, would not comment on who made the final decision to allow Ross to compete but pointed to the USTA’s policies.

“Tennis thrives when the sport embraces inclusion,” the USTA said in its statement on trans-identifying athletes. “For that reason, tennis is open to all regardless of one’s age, ethnicity, race, religious background, sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Fulkrod said that while she understands the tournament director’s position because of potential lawsuits, she still disagrees.

“I thought this is wrong, this is not something we want to set as a precedent in Cheyenne because what’s the next thing?” she said.

Fulkrod had served on the tennis association board for two years before her resignation.

Trans-identifying male athletes playing on women’s teams has become a hot-button issue in recent years. Female athletes have spoken up about having to compete against men, saying they missed out on awards because of their male competitors. Women and girls have also spoken about feeling uncomfortable sharing locker rooms with their biologically male teammates and competitors.