The U.S. military demonstration that shot live-fire artillery rounds over Interstate 5 on Saturday dropped metal shrapnel on a California Highway Patrol vehicle, resulting in damage, agency officials said Sunday.
The CHP said that the shrapnel was from an explosive ordnance that was fired over Interstate 5 and “detonated overhead prematurely, striking and damaging a CHP patrol vehicle.”
The shrapnel fell on the vehicle in an area where CHP officers were gathered to close traffic along Interstate 5 in northern San Diego County, which cuts through Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
State officials decided to order the closure of Interstate 5 during the live-fire exercise, conducted for a Marine Corps 250th anniversary celebration featuring Vice President JD Vance.
No injuries were reported, the CHP said. State officers immediately contacted the Marines, which then “canceled firing additional live ordnance over the freeway, and the area was swept for further evaluation.”
The preplanned live-fire exercise over the freeway during a military event at Camp Pendleton was the center of a battle between the state and the Trump administration.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom lambasted the White House for failing to coordinate or share safety information ahead of the Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary celebration featuring Vice President JD Vance. Administration officials, neanwhile, insisted that the Pendleton event was safe and a freeway closure was unneeded.
Newsom’s office said Thursday it was told no live fire would go over the freeway. On Friday, however, military event organizers asked the California Department of Transportation for a sign along the I-5 that read “Overhead fire in progress.”
On Saturday morning, the state was told that live rounds were set to be shot over the freeway around 1:30 p.m. CHP officials then urged the freeway closure due to safety risk and the likelihood that it would distract drivers.
“This was an unusual and concerning situation,” CHP Border Division Chief Tony Coronado said in a statement released Sunday.
“It is highly uncommon for any live-fire or explosive training activity to occur over an active freeway,” Coronado said. “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.”
