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orth Kuta Police officers were forced to shoot dead French citizen Amokrane Sabet, 46, on Monday after he attacked an officer with a bowie knife.

The police officer, Brig. Anak Agung Putu Sudiarta, died on the way to the hospital with eight stab wounds to his body, including on his neck and chest.

The incident occurred at Villa Harmoni, Sabet’s residence in Tegal Gundul village, North Kuta district, Badung regency, Bali.

Police sought to arrest Sabet after reports that the man, who was known as a mixed martial artist with a large muscular body, frequently threatened local residents and ate at local restaurants without paying.

The report was filed to the police on April 7. However, after he ignored all three summonses, a joint team from the police precinct, Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, Bali Police’s mobile brigade (Brimob) and security control officers came to his house to arrest him.

It was reported that Sabet had torn up the summonses in front of the police officials who delivered them.

Sabet challenged the joint team upon their arrival on Monday afternoon. With the help of a translator, attempts at negotiation were made, but Sabet continued to refuse to surrender.

“Shoot me,” Sabet repeatedly shouted at the police. He also made offensive statements about them and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

After he ran amok and chased the officers, warning shots were fired but he ignored them. When they tried to move away from Sabet, Sudiarta tripped on a ditch. Sabet then stabbed the officer repeatedly with his knife.

When Sabet tried to chase down another police officer after tackling Sudiarta, a Brimob member was forced to shoot him.

Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Sugeng Priyanto said police officers were forced to shoot Sabet as he had injured a police officer and was trying to attack others.

“He looked very emotional and tried to threaten another police officer so our officer had to act to take him down,” Sugeng said.

He also said that immigration officers had been involved in the arrest attempt because Sabet’s residence permit was suspected to have expired in Sept. 27, 2015.

“The behavior of the French citizen who had lived in Bali for two years had made the surrounding community feel very uncomfortable,” Sugeng added.

With regard to the involvement of 24 police officers in the planned arrest of just a single person, Sugeng said it was due to reports received by police that he was “violent and frequently carried sharp weapons.”

The bodies of both Sabet and Sudiarta are currently at the Sanglah Hospital for autopsies.

Sudiarta’s elder brother-in-law, Agung Jaya, said the police officer was survived by his wife and their two children. The French Embassy has been informed of the death of Sabet.

“We follow closely the case with the local authorities. We have asked some complementary information [for] to the authorities about the death of our citizen and we regret the death of the Indonesian policeman,” French Embassy press officer, Gaspard Vignal, told The Jakarta Post. (wnd)