A live artillery shell exploded prematurely during a marines live-fire demonstration that launched over a southern California freeway in celebration of the military branch’s 250th anniversary, raining shrapnel down on a California Highway Patrol vehicle and a motorcycle that was part of JD Vance’s detail, according to a police report.
The New York Times reported that fragments that fell from the 155mm shell landed on vehicles parked on a ramp on Interstate 5 – a major artery through southern California – which governor Gavin Newsom had ordered closed after learning that military officials had no plans to close the freeway.
Vance, a Republican and former enlisted marine who served in Iraq, visited the base in north San Diego county with defense secretary Pete Hegseth to celebrate the Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary and watch troops put on a show of amphibious vehicles and marines demonstrating a beach assault.
An officer described hearing something that sounded like pebbles hit his motorcycle and the area around him, according to the patrol report. Others saw a 2in (5cm) piece of shrapnel hit the hood of a patrol vehicle and leave a small dent. The report says shrapnel was also found on the road near the motorcycle.
The CHP closed a 17-mile (27km) stretch of the highway for periods before and during the Saturday exercise, in a surprise announcement early on Saturday morning. The last-minute closure caused severe traffic delays on Saturday morning and early afternoon.
The exercise was canceled after the shell prematurely exploded, CHP said, and the area was swept for shell fragments but none were found. A spokesperson for the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton told the New York Times that the corps was aware of the CHP report and that an investigation was under way.
JD Vance walks on stage to deliver remarks as part of the Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary celebration at Camp Pendleton, California, on Saturday. Photograph: Oliver Contreras/AFP/Getty Images
Newsom had strongly objected to what he called an “absurd show of force” and “totally uncalled for”.
“The president is putting his ego over responsibility with this disregard for public safety,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn’t just wrong – it’s dangerous. Using our military to intimidate people you disagree with isn’t strength – it’s reckless, it’s disrespectful, and it’s beneath the office he holds.”
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 I5, which is the main highway along the Pacific coast between San Diego and Los Angeles.
“This was an unusual and concerning situation,” said Tony Coronado, California Highway Patrol’s division chief, said of the incident on Saturday. “It 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.”
State transportation officials ultimately made the decision to close the freeway after practice firings Friday evening and a request from event organizers for signage along the road stating “overhead fire in progress.”
“This is all because of the White House-directed military event, that for the safety of the public, we need to shut down the freeway since they’re sending live ordinances over the freeway,” Matt Rocco, a California Department of Transportation spokesperson, said.
Sign alerts drivers about the closure of the freeway on 18 October in San Clemente, California. Photograph: Apu Gomes/Getty Images
The I5 closure caused significant backups for those commuting between San Diego and Los Angeles. The freeway carries 80,000 travelers and $94m in freight through the corridor daily, according to the governor’s office. Passenger rail services running parallel to the I5 were also canceled for the afternoon.
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,” Martin said.
Newsom posted on social media on Sunday: “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.”
