NYPD officers fatally shot a kidnapping suspect during a chaotic confrontation on the Belt Parkway Saturday night.
The deadly encounter began around 7:30 p.m. When police received a harrowing report: a small child was heard screaming from inside a white cargo van bearing New Jersey plates, sources said. Officers located the vehicle near Exit 8 and attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but the driver, described as a black male in his thirties, sped eastbound and refused to pull over.
An officer managed to get ahead of the fleeing van and established a roadblock to halt the pursuit. The suspect responded by ramming into both police vehicles and civilian cars, sources said. The collision left several wrecked vehicles scattered across the roadway, triggering a massive gridlock as authorities shut down both lanes of the busy highway.
Police on the scene then smashed the van’s windows and deployed a taser in an effort to subdue the driver, according to sources. When these measures failed to stop him, officers opened fire, striking and killing the suspect.
The man, whose identity has not been released by authorities, was rushed to NYU Langone in Brooklyn. He was pronounced dead at approximately 8 p.m., roughly half an hour after the chase began, sources said.
In a startling twist, no child was found inside the van despite the initial 911 report of a screaming girl, sources confirmed. The drivers of the vehicles struck during the rampage were later questioned by police as witnesses to the unfolding violence.
The episode drew a heavy law enforcement response and left the critical Brooklyn-Queens artery paralyzed for hours as crime scene investigators processed the extensive crash site. The circumstances surrounding the original abduction report—and whether any child was ever in danger—remained under investigation.
The NYPD has not publicly identified the deceased suspect or addressed whether officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave pending review.