Chevrolet: 1995 Chevy Lumina Minivan Transmission/transaxle, 1995 chevy lumina, chevy lumina

Question
My friend has a 1995 chevy lumina minivan. We were driving it a couple days ago, and came to a stop light. We started to accelerate from the stop sign at a normal speed, when suddenly, the van just came to a halt/sudden stop. It felt like someone hit us from the back. We tried to put the van out of gear into Park, but nothing, either into drive, neutral or anything, it seemed to simply lock up. What could have caused this, the transaxle ( as someone said its called in the minvan which is front wheel drive)/transmission to do that? Is that transaxle/transmission now wrecked and needs to be replaced, or a solonoid?, or what needs to be done?
Thank you
Heath

Answer
Heath;
Hi  well as long as no one pushed the selector into 4 whd. than it might just be as simple as a switch or it might be locked up and it might be just as easy to have it fixed, but do not drive or try if it is locked  if you have the floor selector from 4 to 2  or to 4 whd. did  you try to  jerk the lever into a differnt setting than back to see if it will free it up.