BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - A deadly shooting at a Birmingham car wash this week has been ruled justifiable, and authorities say no charges will be filed against the shooter.

Johnta Tate, 28, was fatally shot just before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the business at 517 18th Street Ensley.

Birmingham police spokesman Sgt. Johnny Williams Jr. said today that Tate was shot during the course of a robbery he was committing against another person.

Homicide investigators presented the case to the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office who ruled the killing justifiable.

The shooter, who was taken into custody shortly after the shooting, was released and will not be charged with any crime.

Jefferson County District Attorney Brandon Falls said the man who shot Tate was meeting with him to pay him, presumably for work done. Tate then pulled a rifle and told the man he was going take all of his money.

When he pulled the rifle, Tate stumbled and when he did, the shooter grabbed hold of the barrel, managed to pull his own weapon and fired multiple times.

"This was a straight up robbery," Falls said. "It was an obvious case of self-defense. There were witnesses who corroborated all of this."

"Criminals need to think twice before they commit a robbery," he said, "because citizens have a right to protect themselves."

The ruling in Tate's killing is the latest in a string of Birmingham homicides ruled justifiable in recent months.

In late June, authorities said a 16-year-old boy who fired the shot that killed a Birmingham man would not be charged. Mitchell Hamby, 22, was killed in self-defense after he got out of a car armed with a pistol during a fight between two groups of people.

Just three days before that, authorities deemed the death of aspiring rapper Deandrea Thomas, 22, was also self-defense. Thomas, police said, attacked the man that shot him, hitting him with his fist and banging his head against a wall while choking him.

In May, a 13-year-old was fatally shot during an attempted carjacking. Police said Ja'Quares Walker was trying to rob a couple in an SUV at Skyview Condominiums when the car owner pulled his own weapon and shot Ja'Quares in the chest.

Updated at 12:10 p.m. to include comments from District Attorney Brandon Falls.