An early morning fight on July 6 between two drivers led to a deadly shooting in Allentown, Pennsylvania, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office. 

In an announcement about the investigation, District Attorney Gavin Holihan and Allentown Police Chief Charles Roca said the shooting happened just after 3:30 a.m. on July 6 near 5th and Hamilton streets.

Allentown police arrived at the scene and detained a driver from a Prius and a passenger from an Audi. Emergency medical services brought the driver of the Audi, identified as Tamir Johnson, who had been shot, to the Lehigh Valley Health Network at Cedar Crest Boulevard, where he died shortly after arriving, according to Holihan.

Investigators say surveillance video from areas near the scene pieced together what led up to the shooting; Johnson and the driver of the Prius were involved in an altercation on the road moments before the shooting.

Both cars were driving westbound on the 400 block of West Hamilton Street when investigators say Johnson’s Audi “overtook the Prius.” Then, as they crossed 5th Street, the Audi forced the Prius to the curb, and both cars stopped.

Johnson then got out of his car with a metal bat and began swinging at the driver of the Prius, hitting the driver’s side door. The Prius driver then fired a gun at Johnson, who dropped the bat and moved away from the car, according to the DA’s Office.

The Prius driver drove away and called 911. Officers arrived at the scene, detained the driver and recovered a 9mm handgun from him, which he was legally permitted to possess, officials said. 

The Lehigh County DA’s Office said there was another person inside the Audi at the time. The passenger in the Audi was not injured and remained at the scene. 

Officials didn’t release names for the Prius driver or the passenger since no charges have been filed in the case.

“Pennsylvania law states in relevant part that the use of deadly force is justified under certain extreme circumstances,” a news release from the DA’s Office about the investigation on July 21 read in part. 

Upon further investigation, the DA’s Office said the Prius driver was legally justified in using deadly force under Pennsylvania’s “Stand your ground law.”

“While the law justifies the use of deadly force in such a situation, it is not something to be taken lightly. It has profound consequences for the family of Johnson, and also for the driver of the Prius, who has expressed remorse for what transpired,” the news release read in part.

Johnson’s family described him “as a provider, a protector and their light and said his children were his world and he never missed a moment in their lives.”

Multiple agencies, including the Allentown Police Department, Lehigh County DA’s Office, Lehigh County Homicide Task Force and the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office, investigated the incident.Â