At approximately 9:35 a.m. on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, emergency personnel were dispatched to a home on Shady Grove Wickerville Road in Metcalfe County, Kentucky, following a report of a shooting. Kentucky State Police (KSP) troopers and detectives, assisted by the Metcalfe County Sheriff’s Office, arrived to find an elderly husband and wife with gunshot wounds inside their residence.
Inside the home, officers discovered 83-year-old Doris June Huffman of Hardyville, Kentucky, deceased from an apparent gunshot wound. The Metcalfe County Coroner pronounced her dead at the scene. Nearby, her husband, 87-year-old Vander Huffman, was found alive but with life-threatening injuries from what investigators preliminarily determined to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Emergency medical personnel transported Vander Huffman to T.J. Sampson Community Hospital in Glasgow for emergency treatment. Despite these efforts, he succumbed to his injuries later on Wednesday afternoon. The Barren County Coroner pronounced him dead at the hospital.
A preliminary investigation by KSP suggests the incident was an apparent murder-suicide, though authorities classify it as a formal death investigation that is still ongoing. KSP Detective Mike Dubree is leading the investigation into the tragedy.
The case involves assistance from several other agencies, including Barren/Metcalfe County EMS and the Metcalfe County Coroner’s Office. No motive or specific details regarding the events leading up to the shooting have been released by investigators as of the latest reports.
The couple, married and long-time residents of the Hardyville community, were known and remembered by neighbors as a good and loving pair. A neighbor mentioned seeing Vander Huffman in his shop by the stove just recently and said he appeared to be doing well. The community expressed heartbreak over the event, with one local social media post reading, “It breaks my heart. Prayers for family and friends. Always be nice and help one another!”.