In the news category of "well damn, that's not good" During the USMC celebration at Camp Pendleton, in San Diego county, the major West Coast base of the Marines and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States, one artillery round detonated over the freeway, raining down bits of debris on the closed road.

Bits of the round, including a two-inch-long chunk of shrapnel, fell on a California Highway Patrol vehicle

"The incident happened in an area where CHP officers were supporting a traffic break along I-5 near Camp Pendleton during an exceptional U.S. Marine Corps live-fire training demonstration over the freeway, and where the CHP had elected to stop traffic during the live-fire exercise," said CHP's release.

A motorcycle officer also found a fragment measuring about 1 inch by a half-inch near his own vehicle.

The Oct. 17 Marine Corps’ 250th Birthday Amphibious Capabilities Demonstration firings, part of a rehearsal for the actual celebration the next day, involved several M777 howitzers set up along the beach. 

The live-fire event highlights the Navy-Marine Corps team’s ability to integrate across air, land, and sea, showcasing the Corps’ enduring role as America’s force in-readiness. Saturday's celebrations, were attended by Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

On Saturday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Highway Patrol closed a 17-mile stretch of Interstate 5 along the coast for a four-hour window. 

The state cited both the direct risk of the artillery and the potential for explosions to startle and distract drivers. Meanwhile Amtrak also stopped service for its Pacific Surfliner route for the duration of the event. 

US marine officials had said there was nothing unsafe about the exercise at Camp Pendleton, where firing artillery is a routine occurrence, and that it was unnecessary to disrupt traffic on Interstate 5, which is the main highway along the Pacific coast between San Diego and Los Angeles.

On Saturday, California Highway Patrol had electronic signs at the freeway warning of “Live weapons over freeway” warning travelers in Los Angeles County about the risk dozens of miles to the south.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle blasted the exercise and the closure.

Asked for a response to the CHP's report of a shrapnel strike, Newsom spokesperson Diana Crofts-Pelayo also pointed to a post on the X account for the governor's office: "We love our Marines and owe a debt of gratitude to Camp Pendleton, but next time, the Vice President and the White House shouldn’t be so reckless with people’s lives for their vanity projects."

Representative Darrell Issa, who represents a district east of the base, called it “a spiteful publicity stunt” by Newsom.

In a statement to the New York Times on Saturday, a spokesperson for Vance, William Martin, said Newsom misled the public about the safety risk.

“If 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.”

San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, a Republican, also weighed in, saying there is “zero reason” to close the freeway, while blaming Newsom.

“The Marines at Camp Pendleton have been firing live rounds and training beneath I-5 for over 50 years – without closing the freeway. There is zero reason for this sudden shutdown,” Desmond posted on X. “This isn’t just an inconvenience – it’s going to cause medical emergencies to be delayed, workers to miss shifts, and families to have their plans and events ruined.

“It sure looks like Gavin Newsom is trying to use the U.S. Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary to create chaos and score political points,” he added.

Desmond also said the shutdown “shows exactly what’s wrong with politics. No accountability, no planning – just finger-pointing while everyday people sit in traffic, miss work, and watch their plans fall apart.”

https://www.dvidshub.net/image/9364479/2nd-battalion-11th-marine-regiment-participates-marine-corps-250th-birthday-amphibious-capabilities-demonstration
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marines-camp-pendleton-artillery-freeway-warning/

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/camp-pendleton-live-fire-demonstration-shrapnel-5-freeway-california-highway-patrol/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna238550

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/19/california-marines-explosion-freeway-jd-vance
https://timesofsandiego.com/military/2025/10/18/i-5-to-close-saturday-for-camp-pendleton-live-fire-exercise/