Woman Safe After Abduction Call as NYPD Officers Fatally Shoot a Van Driver Who Rammed Cars on Brooklyn's Belt Parkway

New York police officers shot and killed the driver of a white cargo van on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn on Saturday night after callers reported a possible abduction and the driver repeatedly rammed police and civilian cars, according to police accounts reported by local outlets.

The man, described as being in his 30s, was pronounced dead at NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn, and police had not released his name, Fox 5 New York reported. The woman whose screams set off the alarm had already escaped the van before officers reached it and was later found unharmed, NBC New York reported.

The response began when two people called 911 about a possible abduction involving a white van, with someone inside reported to be kicking and screaming, and the callers flagged down officers nearby, News 12 reported. Early accounts circulating Saturday night described a possible child abduction, but police later said the person in the van had been an adult woman and that no child was found inside.

Officers caught up with the van in heavy eastbound traffic near Exit 8 of the parkway in the Sheepshead Bay area, CBS New York reported, and the driver refused to stop and struck both police and civilian vehicles. Speaking at a news conference, NYPD Assistant Chief Charles Minch said that as officers approached, the van drove onto the sidewalk and sped off before becoming stuck in traffic, according to ABC7 New York.

Officers ordered the driver out. Police said they first used pepper spray and then a Taser, neither of which stopped him, and that he kept ramming the vehicles around him before officers opened fire, Fox 5 New York and ABC7 New York reported. CBS New York reported that officers fired into the van and struck the driver.

Police said the man was already wanted by the NYPD. He was sought in an unlawful imprisonment case from last month involving the same woman, News 12 reported, and amNY reported that police described a pattern of abuse against her, including a domestic assault earlier this month. Police characterized Saturday's call as a domestic situation, according to the same reports.

The NYPD's Force Investigation Division is reviewing the shooting, amNY reported. Authorities were examining the initial abduction report, the driver's actions during the pursuit and the shooting itself, and several details of the sequence remained under review on Sunday. Lanes of the Belt Parkway that had been closed overnight reopened Sunday morning, News 12 reported.

The police account describes officers who answered a call for help and tried to end a dangerous standoff with less-lethal tools first, while a driver accused of holding the same woman against her will last month was ramming cars in Saturday-night traffic. Every police shooting deserves a full and honest review, and this one will get it. What is already clear from the record is that the woman at the center of the call is safe, police said.

Liberty Bell Report will update this story as the NYPD releases the driver's identity, any body-camera footage and the findings of its review.