Emptying the Trash - unstoppable

On OS X Lion 10.7.1, I ran the Empty Trash and it showed "Emptying the Trash..." and "Items to delete: 11,989" It had run for a day doing nothing. It could not be cancelled and the Mac could not be shut down nor restart. b.t.w. Lion Server is installed.

What's the problem? How to fix it? Which process is for the EmptyTrash?

Help please.