Simple solution
Shea, a local Repooflican eunuch, has decided to behave like Trump. Instead of doing the job of LEGISLATING, which is his ASSIGNED AND PAID JOB, he is getting involved in a murder case that has no connection to him. He's not related to the suspect or the victim. He guesses that the gun was owned at some point by a county deputy, and he thinks this guess is important enough to make a big public stink. It's not clear how the ownership of the gun would change the facts of the case, which are straightforward and well established.
The sheriff, UNDERSTANDABLY AND CORRECTLY, doesn't like to have his deputies accused in public without any evidence or charges, so he's threatening a lawsuit for defamation.
Solution to this is simple. If you're a public figure, don't get publicly involved in shit that has no connection to your interests. Pay fucking attention to your own fucking job which you're being PAID for. Don't start fights. Don't start feuds. Don't start wars.
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Sidenote: I don't much like this sheriff. He seems to have picked up the FBI's anti-white and anti-Christian bigotry, BUT he doesn't let those biases affect his job. Unlike FBI, his department catches and arrests criminals even when the criminals are not white or Christian. He MINDS HIS OWN FUCKING BUSINESS.