Utah prosecutors say the officer who shot and killed a black man armed with a sword as part of a Japanese anime costume were justified in their actions.

Utah County Attorney Jeff Bunham said Monday that the Saratoga Springs officers feared for their lives as well as the safety of other people in the shopping center where they confronted 22-year-old Darrien Hunt on Sept. 10, according to a USA Today report.

Hunt’s family said he was targeted because of his race and nothing he did warranted the fatal shooting. Hunt was black, and the officers who shot him are white. As a result, the family said it will file a civil rights and wrongful death suit.

The confrontation started when a person saw Hunt with a sword in Saratoga Spring, which is situated just south of Salt Lake City. After receiving the report, Police Cpl. Matthew Schauerhamer and Officer Nicholas Judson found Hunt and started having a “normal conversation” with him, according to the report.

When Hunt asked for a ride to a nearby city, the officers asked him to surrender the sword first, but he refused and quickly became agitated, swinging the metal sword at them, according to Bunham. he said it happened so quickly that the officers had to immediately pull their firearms and gun down the man, and there was no evidence that race was a factor.

Hunt wasn’t initially killed by the shots and fled, ignoring orders to drop the sword, Bunham said, adding that the officers were concerned that Hunt would find bystanders and harm them, causing them to use lethal force to subdue him.

Bob Sykes, the Hunt family’s attorney, said the account was incorrect and Hunt was not likely to be aggressive. The family is bringing a lawsuit in order to improve police training, particularly in the area of the proper way to use deadly force.

Hunt died from multiple gunshot wounds, including several to his back.