{"id":15874,"date":"2025-10-21T13:34:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T13:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/15874\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T13:34:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T13:34:24","slug":"shrapnel-from-marines-anniversary-demonstration-detonates-over-california-interstate-and-hits-squad-car-highway-patrol-says-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/15874\/","title":{"rendered":"Shrapnel from Marines anniversary demonstration detonates over California interstate and hits squad car, highway patrol says"},"content":{"rendered":"

An artillery shell fired as part of the Marine Corps\u2019 250-year anniversary celebrations<\/a> prematurely detonated over Interstate 5 in California Saturday, striking a patrol vehicle with shrapnel, according to the California Highway Patrol.<\/p>\n

No injuries were reported from the incident, which took place in an area where the highway patrol had stopped traffic during the live fire exercise at Camp Pendleton, the agency said in a statement Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Marine Corps was alerted and canceled the firing of additional live ordnance over the highway.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was an unusual and concerning situation,\u201d California Highway Patrol Border Division Chief Tony Coronado said in the statement. \u201cIt is highly uncommon for any live-fire or explosive training activity to occur over an active freeway. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The live demonstration had sparked a back-and-forth between Vice President JD Vance, who spoke at the event, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who declared it unsafe and ordered the freeway closed.<\/p>\n

The incident also comes as the Trump administration and the state of California have clashed over several high-profile issues, including the deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles and congressional redistricting.<\/p>\n

The Marine Corps said live-fire training was conducted at Camp Pendleton year-round to maintain combat readiness and precision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware of the report of a possible airborne detonation of a 155mm artillery round outside the designated impact area during the U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Capabilities Demonstration,\u201d spokesperson Capt. Gregory Dreibelbis said in a statement to CNN on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe demonstration went through a rigorous safety evaluation, and deliberate layers of redundancy, to ensure the safety of fellow citizens,\u201d he said. \u201cFollowing established safety protocols, firing was suspended. No injuries occurred and the demonstration concluded as scheduled.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Marine Corps is investigating the incident, Dreibelbis said. Marines on the West Coast \u201care committed to our enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with the people of Southern California,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir safety and confidence is invaluable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Signs<\/p>\n

Signs alert motorists about the closure of a section of Interstate 5 ahead of the demonstration. – Apu Gomes\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Highway Patrol said it filed an internal report with a recommendation to review the coordination between federal, state and local government around the event.<\/p>\n

The Camp Pendleton demonstration, which the Marines called the largest in a decade in the continental US, involved fighter jets, helicopters, Navy vessels and live fire from a towed howitzer.<\/p>\n

Gov. Newsom closed a section of Interstate 5<\/a> in Southern California ahead of Saturday\u2019s demonstration, citing \u201cextreme life safety risk and distraction to drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFiring live rounds over a busy highway isn\u2019t just wrong \u2014 it\u2019s dangerous,\u201d Newsom, a Democrat who has frequently sparred with the Trump <\/a>administration, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Vice President Vance\u2019s office disputed Newsom\u2019s claim that the live rounds were dangerous, saying that the demonstration was \u201can established safe practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Gavin Newsom wants to oppose the training exercises that ensure our Armed Forces are the deadliest and most lethal fighting force in the world, then he can go right ahead,\u201d William Martin, Vance\u2019s communications director, said in a statement to CNN. \u201cIt would come as no surprise that he would stoop so low considering his pathetic track record of failure as governor.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his remarks from Camp Pendleton, Vance \u2014 the first Marine to serve as vice president \u2014 spoke of his time in the military, saying, \u201cI would not be here today, I would not be the vice president of the United States, I would not be the man I am today were it not for those four years that I served in the Marine Corps.\u201d<\/p>\n

CNN\u2019s Isabelle D\u2019Antonio and Kaanita Iyer contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An artillery shell fired as part of the Marine Corps\u2019 250-year anniversary celebrations prematurely detonated over Interstate 5…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[12414,7,9,859,8,7338,457,12164,12413,1009,10888],"class_list":["post-15874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-artillery-shell","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-highway-patrol","tag-california-news","tag-camp-pendleton","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-gregory-dreibelbis","tag-highway-patrol","tag-southern-california","tag-vice-president-jd-vance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}