News 12 | Brooklyn | Police shoot person while responding to possible kidnapping on Belt Parkway

A man was fatally shot by New York Police officers Saturday evening after reports of a possible kidnapping in Brooklyn led to a confrontation on Belt Parkway, where authorities say the driver crashed into several vehicles, including police cars.

Deputy Chief Charles Mitch said during a news conference that the incident began around 7:19 p.m., near West 22nd Street and Avenue S.

The incident sparked a massive emergency response, closing portions of the Belt Parkway near Coney Island Avenue while police investigated.

Images from the Citizen app show a swarm of NYPD vehicles on the parkway, near a white van. Police helicopters were also seen flying overhead.

Police say a man and woman called 911 after seeing what they thought was a possible kidnapping involving a white pickup truck.

One person reported seeing a girl “kicking and screaming” inside the vehicle, while another reported hearing a woman repeatedly screaming, “Let me go.”

The callers alerted nearby NYPD officers and directed them to the van, police said.

Officers located the vehicle, but as they approached, the driver allegedly drove onto a sidewalk and ran away.

Police broadcast the van’s description and license plate information on department radio channels.

Authorities later found the van in heavy eastbound traffic on Belt Parkway.

Uniformed officers approached the vehicle and repeatedly ordered the driver to get out, police said.

The officers then broke the front passenger side window in an attempt to get him out of the van.

According to investigators, the driver then began driving forward and backward, hitting police vehicles and several vehicles with people inside.

Police said officers attempted to arrest him using pepper spray and a Taser, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

As the driver continued to ram nearby vehicles, officers opened fire, hitting him, police said.

Officers removed the driver from the pickup truck and immediately began life-saving measures, including CPR, before EMS transported him to Lutheran Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Several police officers were also taken to hospital for evaluation.

Police had not yet released the man’s identity as of Sunday morning.

Investigators later found the woman who was initially reported inside the van.

Police said she was an adult, was not injured and told detectives she got out of the vehicle before officers arrived.

Investigators now believe the screams came from a domestic dispute, although the investigation is still ongoing.

Police said the driver was wanted in connection with an unlawful imprisonment case reported last month involving the same woman who was inside the van.

The closed lanes on the parkway have since reopened Sunday morning.

The incident was captured on body-worn camera footage and remains under investigation by the NYPD Investigative Division.