TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Two Kaohsiung City police officers on Friday night (Dec. 23) fired 15 shots at and eventually killed a man attacking his nephew during a dispute regarding family inheritance.

Kaohsiung City Police Department’s Gangshan Precinct responded to a domestic dispute at a residence in Ganshan District sometime after 8 p.m., CNA reported. When they arrived, police saw a 64-year-old man surnamed Tsai (蔡) attacking another man with a sickle and demanded that he stop.

Tsai continued, so two police officers fired a total of 15 shots at him, five of which struck Tsai. The officers were not injured.

Police suspect that Tsai (蔡) and his 43-year-old nephew were in the midst of an inheritance dispute when Tsai brandished a sickle and attacked his nephew.

After being shot by the police, Tsai was sent to Kaohsiung E-Da Hospital for emergency treatment but was later declared dead. His nephew was not in a life-threatening situation.

After examining surveillance video, the Gangshan Precinct claimed that the officers used the firearm boldly and correctly to prevent a civilian's life from being endangered, per CNA.

However, the deadly police shooting under such circumstances has raised the issue of the use of excessive force by the police, with some questioning whether it was necessary for the police to fire so many shots to stop the attacker, who was not coming at them.