California lawmakers want answers after live fire demonstration rained
shrapnel on highway
[October 24, 2025]
By DEBORAH BRENNAN/CalMatters
California lawmakers are demanding answers after a live fire
demonstration over Camp Pendleton Saturday led to a misfire that rained
shrapnel on Interstate 5, striking two California Highway Patrol
vehicles.
An artillery shell exploded over the freeway during a celebration of the
250th anniversary of the Marine Corps, attended by Vice President JD
Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Pieces of shrapnel
scattered on the closed roadway and struck a patrol vehicle and
motorcycle.
“I was very disappointed, because I hoped we could celebrate the Marine
Corps without undue risk,” Rep. Mike Levin, a Democrat from San Clemente
and Carlsbad who represents the district including Camp Pendleton, told
CalMatters. “I’m led to believe the decision-making did not put public
safety first. That’s why we’re calling for a full investigation.”
On Wednesday Levin sent a letter signed by 26 California Congress
members and the state’s two senators to Hegseth, asking who decided to
shoot live artillery over the freeway, and how authorities planned for
the safety risks.
“While we are relieved no one was injured, we are deeply concerned by
the decision-making that led to this incident,” Levin wrote.
The mishap deepened conflicts between President Donald Trump and
California leaders including Gov. Gavin Newsom, with some Republicans
chastising Newsom for closing the freeway during the live fire exercise.
Other local leaders were exasperated by an unorthodox military display
that they believe was orchestrated for the benefit of Trump
administration officials.
“It’s almost absurd that this would be acceptable,” California Sen.
Catherine Blakespear, an Encinitas Democrat whose district includes Camp
Pendleton, told CalMatters. “And for what? There’s no military benefit.
There’s no community benefit. It’s posturing with militaristic bluster
at the expense of the safety and well-being of the community.”
The Marine Corp’s 250th birthday party
On Saturday Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton held a demonstration
featuring aircraft, ships, and amphibious assault vehicles to celebrate
the milestone anniversary. It involved firing artillery across the
coastal freeway in a planned demonstration of 60 rounds, according to
the CHP incident report.
That location was unusual, military and public safety officials said.
Although live fire training is routine, it usually takes place on
designated ranges within the 195 square mile base in North County San
Diego.
“It is highly uncommon for any live-fire or explosive training activity
to occur over an active freeway,” CHP Border Division Chief Tony
Coronado said in a statement Sunday. “As a Marine myself, I have
tremendous respect for our military partners, but my foremost
responsibility is ensuring the safety of the people of California and
the officers who protect them.”
The first round launched at 1:46 p.m. Saturday from M777 Howitzers on a
beach west of Interstate 5 toward the east, the incident report stated.
That artillery round failed to clear the roadway and detonated midflight
near Interstate 5 southbound, sending shrapnel flying toward protective
service details assigned to the vice president. After that, the exercise
was halted and no more munitions were fired.
An officer described hearing what sounded like “pebbles” falling on his
CHP BMW motorcycle, and other shards struck an empty Ford patrol
vehicle. The two officers who had driven the vehicle saw a two
inch-by-half inch piece of shrapnel on the hood, which left a small dent
or scratch. Photos in the incident reports show the patrol car struck by
shrapnel, and an officer holding the metal shards.
The CHP called for additional review of the planning, communication and
coordination between state and federal partners about the freeway
closure and public safety. The Marine Corps is also investigating the
incident, the Washington Post reported.
Levin said he hoped the Marine Corps anniversary would bring the country
together to honor the force’s 250 year history: “Our Marines deserve to
be celebrated without compromising these ideals.”
A risky exercise
The incident snarled traffic for hours on the freeway, which Newsom had
ordered closed for the exercise. And it startled residents in San Diego
and Orange Counties, who are accustomed to noise from military
exercises, but didn’t expect one to take place over a civilian
transportation corridor. Some shared photos of surreal highway signs
warning of the live fire event.
“Artillery on base is normal,” Levin said. “I hear it all the time from
my house. But everything we’ve seen is that firing over the freeway is
not how this ordinarily works. Common sense tells us it’s much riskier
to fire over the freeway.”
Ian Bennett, a retired Army artillery officer who served in Iraq in
2003, said military leaders plan for every facet of munitions exercises,
from gun settings and direction to range conditions and weather.
“You want to make sure that everything is done safely because you don’t
want to have a mishap offramp all the good that you’re doing,” Bennett
said.
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Vice President JD Vance, right, watches a demonstration by Marines
during activities to mark the upcoming Marine Corps' 250th
anniversary, Oct 18, 2025, on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in
Camp Pendleton, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, file)
Live fire exercises involve multiple dry fire rehearsals and any that
affect civilians or take place in sensitive areas require extra
coordination to make sure there are no surprises, he said.
“I’ve never had cause to shoot over a major road during training,”
Bennett said. “From my personal perspective, that’s not something I
would consider.”
Miscommunications before the mishap
San Diego leaders described miscommunications about the live fire
demonstration at Camp Pendleton in the days beforehand, with some
elected officials saying they weren’t in the loop.
“If there was coordination, I would expect it would include my office,”
Blakespear said. “We weren’t even informed or invited to the event.”
Last Wednesday the Marine Corps issued a statement assuring the public
that live fire demonstrations would take place on approved training
ranges and comply with established safety protocols.
But that evening, Levin voiced concern that parts of Interstate 5 could
be closed in both directions “to accommodate events tied to anything
partisan or political.”
Leaders in Oceanside, the city south of the base, said there was
conflicting and changing information about the demonstration until the
morning of the event.
“I was in planning for probably a month to a month and a half out, and
there were a lot of unknowns,” Oceanside Police Department Assistant
Chief John McKean said. “The government doesn’t tell you a whole lot of
stuff out front, other than we’re coming out and we want a big party.”
The day before, the word was that the freeway would remain open, Bennett
said. He awoke to a phone call at 6:30 a.m. Saturday to learn it would
be shut.
Live fire exercise fuels political feuds
In a statement Saturday, Newsom announced the freeway closure,
describing the live fire exercise as a show of force meant to intimidate
Trump’s opponents, thousands of whom were demonstrating at “No Kings”
protests throughout San Diego the same day.
“The President is putting his ego over responsibility with this
disregard for public safety,” Newsom wrote. “Firing live rounds over a
busy highway isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous.”
All lanes in an area along the base were scheduled to close for about
four hours, McKean said, but they were ultimately shut for just under an
hour, between about 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
McKean, who served in the Marines, said it’s not typical but not
unprecedented to shoot across a roadway. Safety concerns include not
only misplaced explosions but also noise distractions, he said.
“It’s more of scaring people with the large percussion that comes from
the big boom right in front of you,” he said. “I don’t think they do it
that often.”
Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, who represents East County San Diego,
complained on X that Newsom overruled “the best-trained and
most-experienced leaders of our Marine Corps” to shut down the freeway
and denounced the closure as “a spiteful publicity stunt… to ruin the
occasion.”
After the errant explosion, Issa’s office said the danger was blown out
of proportion.
“The media don’t need to amplify these comic exaggerations,” Issa’s
spokesperson Jonathan Wilcox wrote in an email to CalMatters.
“(asterisk)This(asterisk) is what shut the freeway down for several
hours? Congressman Issa knows that a real governor — whether Republican
Pete Wilson or Democrat Jerry Brown — would never have mislead (sic) the
public and exploited a minimal incident for some attempted partisan
gain.”
Levin acknowledged that as the minority party Democrats have fewer
levers to get answers to questions about the misfire at Camp Pendleton.
But he said he’ll use his role on the House Committee on Appropriations
to keep up pressure.
“The administration heard safety warnings from the Marine Corps, and
completely ignored them,” he said. “That would mean JD Vance and Pete
Hegseth cared more about their demonstration than the safety of Marines,
the safety of communities. So we need to push for answers and
accountability.”
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This story was originally published by CalMatters and distributed
through a partnership with The Associated Press.
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