Pedestrian Killed While Walking on 710 Freeway

By City News Service

A pedestrian was killed tonight on the Long Beach (710) Freeway, in South Gate, a California Highway Patrol official said.

The first report, at 7:58 p.m., was that a long-haired man in dark clothing was trying to stop traffic in the Number 3 lane of the southbound Long Beach Freeway at Imperial Highway, according to CHP Officer Patrick Kimball.

Within a minute, the CHP received a call that a pedestrian was lying in the Number 3 lane and was pronounced dead at the scene, Kimball said.

A witness at the scene said it happened near the Firestone Boulevard off- ramp.

The coroner's office reported picking up a man from that location, coroner's Lt. Joe Bale said.

The driver of a black Mercedes with a broken windshield and the driver of a black Toyota Prius with damage stopped to say they may have hit a pedestrian on the freeway, Kimball said.

The southbound Long Beach Freeway was shut down at Firestone Boulevard more than an hour for the CHP investigation, he said.

The slow lane was reopened at 9:28 p.m.