All northbound lanes of the 5 Freeway were closed between Mission Road and Broadway on Sunday morning after an altercation led police to shoot a pedestrian walking on the freeway.
California Highway Patrol officers arrived and tried to "diffuse" the situation after a call came in shortly after midnight Sunday of a man in his 40s walking on the northbound lanes of the 5 Freeway, said CHP Sgt. Saul Gomez.
Cellphone video shot by another driver showed the man walking along the center divider of the freeway.
Police first shot the man with beanbags and then tried shocking him with a Taser, but multiple officers were forced to shoot the suspect after the altercation escalated and he produced a knife, making the officers fear for their safety, Gomez said.
At least three officers are seen in the cellphone video opening fire on the man, who died on the freeway. He was identified Sunday night as Eric Alvarez, 40, of Hacienda Heights.
CHP shut down the freeway for more than eight hours as part of the investigation.
Officers said they respond to between 20 and 30 calls nightly of pedestrians walking on the freeway in the same area.
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It remains unclear why Alvarez was walking on the freeway.
Rudy Chinchilla, Marin Austin and Jane Yamamoto contributed to this report.
