2000 Blazer, 4.3 V6, shifted into reverse and parking brake light came on. Shifted back into park and light went out. Applied parking brake and now will not release. What could be the cause?

 

Is it that the release handle is having no effect on releasing the parking brake pedal? It likely is the release mechanism that broke. You likely can manually release the brake by pushing down on the pedal and then use a screwdriver to release the pawl.

I'd suggest finding an exploded diagram of the parking brake mechanism to see how it is supposed to work to compare to what is going on on yours.

 

I was able to get the pedal up after pumping the brake release lever, but the light is still on. I tried driving the vehicle afterwards and it seemed to be fine. I didn't hear any noise like the brakes were rubbing. Unsure what else could be causing the light to activate right off hand.