New York City police shot and killed a man suspected of kidnapping a small child on Saturday night after a failed traffic stop attempt on a packed highway.
The New York City Police Department fatally shot the black man in his 30s on Saturday night on the Belt Parkway near Coney Island Avenue, according to the New York Post.
Officers tried to pull over the white cargo van with New Jersey license plates on the eastbound Belt Parkway near Exit 8.
However, the driver, who has not been publicly identified, did not stop, the outlet reported.
The officer-involved shooting happened after officers responded to a 911 call regarding a possible abduction of a small child screaming in the back of the vehicle.
An officer set up a road block but the man rammed into police and civilian vehicles, the Post reported.
Police then smashed the van’s windows and tased the man before shooting him. He was rushed to NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn and declared dead around 8pm, the report continued.
There was no child found in the van, according to sources cited by the outlet.
New York City police shot and killed a man in his 30s around 7.30pm Saturday on the Belt Parkway near Coney Island Avenue
The officer–involved shooting happened after a 911 call about a possible abduction of a small child
The NYPD told the Daily Mail that the person who called 911 also flagged down nearby officers
The NYPD told the Daily Mail on Saturday night that the person who called 911 had also flagged down nearby officers regarding the suspected kidnapping.
No officers have been reported injured at this time, the NYPD told the Daily Mail.
The 911 call regarding possible kidnapping was placed in the 60th Precinct, which includes Coney Island, a police spokesperson told the New York Daily News.
The call was made at 7.19pm in front of Seaside Park, according to the spokesperson cited by the outlet.
The driver of the van tried to escape from police by driving against the flow of traffic, WABC reported.
Video captured at the scene showed a large law enforcement presence after the officer-involved shooting.
The footage appeared to show that crime tape had been put up and that an NYPD van had been damaged.
The NYPD has asked people to avoid the area near the eastbound Belt Parkway and Coney Island Avenue
There were no NYPD officers reported immediately after the officer-involved shooting, police told the Daily Mail
Police asked people to avoid the area surrounding the eastbound Belt Parkway near Coney Island Avenue around 8.30pm on X, warning of road closures and delays.
It was not immediately clear why the 911 call alleging the kidnapping had been made.
Saturday’s incident marked at least the tenth fatal officer-involved shooting in New York City in 2026.
In September, a knife-wielding woman, 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros Lopez, was shot and killed by police officers after she stabbed a woman and a man near Times Square in one of the most popular areas of Manhattan.
That same week, a man with a knife was also shot dead by police on the Brooklyn Bridge after telling cops he had a bomb.
Police later identified the man killed on the bridge as Chaun Bottom, 41.
