Just after 3:30 a.m. on July 6, 35-year-old Tamir Johnson pursued the driver of a Toyota Prius for two blocks before cutting off the Prius driver at South Fifth and Hamilton Streets in Allentown, Pennsylvania, authorities told Lehigh Valley Live.
With that, Johnson of Whitehall Township allegedly used a metal baseball bat to strike the driver’s side door of the Prius, the outlet said.
Interviewed after the shooting, Matt Tuerk — the Democrat mayor of Allentown, which is about 60 miles north of Philadelphia — told WPVI that the incident was ‘senseless’ and was the ‘product of people kind of losing their cool and having in my estimation too easy access to guns.’
The Prius driver — fearing for his life — responded by shooting Johnson, Lehigh Valley Live said, citing investigators.
The Prius driver fired one shot with a handgun and hit Johnson in the torso, WPVI-TV reported, adding that Johnson died a short time later.
After the shooting, the Prius driver drove his car a short distance away, parked, and dialed 911, investigators told Lehigh Valley Live, adding that the Prius driver remained at the location until police arrived and then handed over his legally possessed gun. Indeed, WPVI — citing investigators — noted that the Prius driver has a license to carry.
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Interviewed after the shooting, Matt Tuerk — the Democrat mayor of Allentown, which is about 60 miles north of Philadelphia — told WPVI that the incident was “senseless” and was the “product of people kind of losing their cool and having, in my estimation, too easy access to guns.” However, Tuerk in the same interview characterized the shooting as “self-defense.”
Blaze News on Thursday reached out to Tuerk, asking him what he meant by his two statements and how they can exist side by side. The mayor on Thursday didn’t immediately respond to Blaze News’ questions.
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Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan on Monday ruled that no charges will be filed against the driver who pulled the trigger, saying the deadly shooting was justified, Lehigh Valley Live reported.
“The investigation revealed that [the Prius driver] did not provoke Johnson’s conduct,” the outlet added, citing a news release from the DA’s office.
Johnson leaves behind three children, his family said, adding that he helped at-risk youths. His family added in the DA’s news release that Johnson was “so much more than a moment of conflict” and was “a provider, a protector” whose “children were his world,” Leigh Valley Live noted.
Holihan said that “while the law justifies the use of deadly force in [this] situation, it is not something to be taken lightly,” the outlet noted. The DA also told Lehigh Valley Live that the incident “has profound consequences for the family of Johnson, and also for the driver of the Prius, who has expressed remorse for what transpired.”
Mark Schlofer of Eastern Arms — a gun shop in Catasauqua, which is about five minutes from Allentown — told Blaze News on Thursday that the driver who pulled the trigger “did everything perfectly” in reaction to the road rage attack, adding that “this is the way you do it” and that “you have to wait until you feel like your life is threatened” before firing. Schlofer also told Blaze News that “everybody knew … right out of the gate” that it was self-defense.
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