Police Kill Driver on Closed Section of 405

Rush-hour motorists on the San Diego Freeway faced a nightmare commute Thursday morning after police shot and killed a driver who crashed through construction barriers in Carson just after midnight and attacked a police officer with a metal pipe, officials said.

Despite signs warning that the freeway was closed for late-night construction, Yusuf Hasan, 47, plowed through traffic cones at the Wilmington Avenue exit shortly before 12:30 a.m., authorities said.

After a brief chase, Hasan stopped, got out of his car and struck a California Highway Patrol officer with the pipe. The officer drew his weapon and shot Hasan in the chest, said CHP Officer Wendy Moore.

Hasan, of Los Angeles, was pronounced dead at 1:06 a.m. at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, said a hospital spokeswoman. The officer suffered minor injuries.

Although the freeway’s southbound lanes were scheduled to open about 5 a.m., police kept them closed until 10:30 a.m., clogging surface streets around the area and creating a four-mile backup on the San Diego Freeway.

Nearly 1,000 motorists were caught in the snarl, which left detour streets bottlenecked, said Colleen Ryan, a traffic reporter for the traffic news service Shadow Traffic.

“It took some people a couple of hours to go a few miles,” Ryan said.

Caltrans crews had closed a stretch of the freeway south to the Long Beach Freeway around 11:45 p.m. Wednesday. Forty-five minutes later, Hasan, driving at high speed, crashed through warning traffic cones, Moore said.

Hasan sideswiped a parked construction vehicle and continued for more than half a mile, Moore said. CHP officers, who were protecting the construction crew, chased him.

Hasan stopped his car just south of Alameda Street, got out and charged the officers with the metal pipe. He swung at one of the officers, hitting him on his forearm, Moore said.

The officer drew his weapon and asked Hasan to drop the pipe. When Hasan refused, the officer, an eight-year veteran whom the CHP declined to identify, shot him in the chest, Moore said. She said she did not know how many times Hasan was shot.

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Fatal Shooting on Freeway

Caltrans closed the southbound San Diego Freeway at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday between Wilmington Avenue and the Long Beach Freeway. At 12:30 a.m. Thursday, a car crashed through traffic cones at Wilmington. CHP officers chased the driver, who then stopped his car and allegedly attacked one CHP officer. Police shot and killed him. The freeway reopened at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

1. Motorist crashes through Caltrans barricade.

2. Chased by police, he exits his car and allegedly attacks officers.

3. Police fatally shoot suspect.