This can happen if you accidentally press Ctrl + s or Ctrl +S in a shell. To unfreeze and continue, press Ctrl+q or Ctrl+Q
http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/12107/how-to-unfreeze-after-accidentally-pressing-ctrl-s-in-a-terminal
http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/12107/how-to-unfreeze-after-accidentally-pressing-ctrl-s-in-a-terminal