SAN DIEGO — The Marine Corps has launched an investigation after the California Highway Patrol said shrapnel from an artillery shell, fired in a live-fire demonstration touted by the White House, struck a law enforcement vehicle.
No injuries were reported when an artillery shell “exploded prematurely above us” during the Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary celebration at Camp Pendleton on Saturday, the Highway Patrol said.
But at least one of its patrol vehicles, on hand to help stop and divert traffic on Interstate 5 passing by the base during the protest, was damaged, the highway patrol said in a statement Sunday.
“This was an unusual and concerning situation,” CHP Border Division Chief Tony Coronado, who also identified himself as a Marine, said in the statement. “It is very rare for a live-fire or explosives training activity to take place on an active highway.”
Capt. Gregory Dreibelbis, a spokesman for the I Marine Expeditionary Force, said in a statement Sunday that officials “are aware of the report of a possible airborne detonation of a 155mm artillery shell outside the designated impact zone” during the Marine Corps amphibious capabilities demonstration Saturday.
Images from a CHP incident report show a black-and-white unit with a hood apparently pierced by shrapnel, as well as multiple munitions fragments. The report said the fragment on the hood measured approximately 2 inches by 2 inches. According to a CHP map, the vehicle was at Interstate 5 and Las Pulgas Road, nearly a mile north of the Red Beach protest along San Diego County’s north coast, when it was struck.
The report says a motorcycle trooper also found a fragment measuring approximately 1 inch by 1/2 inch near his own vehicle.
The CHP said the strike occurred as officers temporarily halted traffic on the highway to keep motorists out of harm’s way during the protest.
California Governor Gavin Newsom had criticized the plan to fire live ammunition on the highway in the days leading up to Saturday’s celebrations, attended by Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who both spoke at the event.
Newsom, a Democrat who has repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration, had criticized the potential impact of a temporary closure of Interstate 5, which travels at 80,000 vehicles a day, and he said state officials had not been adequately informed about a dangerous and senseless show of force.
“It could have killed somebody,” Newsom said Sunday on X.
When asked for a response to the CHP report of a shell strike, Newsom spokeswoman Diana Crofts-Pelayo also pointed to a message on the governor’s office’s X account: “We love our Marines and owe a debt of gratitude to Camp Pendleton, but next time the vice president and the White House should not be so reckless with people’s lives for their plans vain.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Before Saturday’s celebrations, Trump administration officials had called complaints about live-fire protests and the resulting highway closure an overreaction.
“Gavin Newsom wants people to think this exercise is dangerous,” William Martin, Vance’s communications director, said in a statement to the New York Times. “The Marine Corps says this is an established and safe practice. Newsom wants people to think this is an absurd show of force. The Marine Corps says this is part of routine training at Camp Pendleton.”
Dreibelbis, the Navy spokesman, said safety protocols had been followed.
“The protest underwent a rigorous security assessment and deliberate redundancies to ensure the safety of fellow citizens,” he said, adding that live shooting was suspended on Saturday in line with security protocols.
The CHP said it wants to conduct a review and create better communication with federal officials. Dreibelbis said the Marine Corps has launched an investigation and also wants to learn lessons from the incident.
“We are committed to determining the root cause of the incident and applying our findings to future missions,” he said.
Elyse Perlmutter-Gumbiner, Bill’s Feather And Madeleine Morrison contributed.
