No public warnings before Marines test-fired live munitions over busy Interstate 5, train lines

New questions are emerging about why there were no public warnings before the U.S. Marines fired over Interstate 5 and a major regional commuter rail line as a test run a day before the 250th birthday celebration for the Corps at Camp Pendleton.

Friday’s exercise occurred during normal freeway and train operations amid the evening commute — and without any of the precautions taken Saturday, when officials temporarily closed the 5 and suspended rail service. On that day, shrapnel landed on a California Highway Patrol cruiser and motorcycle after an artillery shell exploded in midair prematurely, prompting an investigation from the Marines.

Lt. Col. Lindsay Pirek, a spokesperson for the First Marine Expeditionary Force, told The Times Monday the Marines notified the state about plans for Friday’s launching of shells before it fired a total of 30 rounds from its M777 howitzers between 5 and 5:30 p.m.

However, state sources told the Los Angeles Times that the messages the Marine Corps sent on Friday actually did not specify that artillery was being fired in a test run on Friday. They said they did not interpret the request as indication that live rounds would be fired over the freeway in the coming hours.

As a consequence, thousands of rush hour commuters and coastal rail passengers were unaware of the risk as multiple M777 howitzers fired a total of 30 shells over the freeway.

“We did not receive a notification that weapons would be fired over the freeway during Friday’s rehearsal,” a spokesperson for the California State Transportation Agency told The Times.

The Times has asked the Marines Corps for comment and has yet to receive an answer.

Caltrans captured video of rounds being fired from the M777 howitzers Friday. “That’s the fourth shot over the freeway,” a man’s voice could be heard in a Caltrans video shared with reporters.

“We were floored,” said a state official who is familiar with the matter, but not authorized to speak publicly. The firing “was a complete surprise to everyone involved.”

The shells, which weigh roughly 100 pounds each, were initially set to be fired at 1:45 p.m. Friday, Pirek said. But the Marines delayed the shelling to ensure that state officials had time to post warning messages on electronic signs along the freeway, Pirek said.

Officials from a number of California agencies were shocked to learn that live artillery shells were fired across the I-5 Friday evening, according to the state official.

At least one passenger train would have been in the general area around the time shells were lofted over the train tracks, according to the schedule. The northbound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner Train No. 785 was scheduled to have left Oceanside at 4:57 p.m. and arrive at San Clemente Pier at 5:20 p.m.

Amtrak trains on that section of route operated a normal schedule Friday.

One day earlier — on Oct. 16 — military officials reportedly told the California Highway Patrol that ammunition for Saturday’s event would not be fired over the freeway, according to California transportation officials.

On Friday, the state received a communication from event organizers, asking that the California Department of Transportation use electronic signs to warn I-5 motorists that overhead fire was in progress, the state source said.

Organizers asked that the warning go up immediately on Friday and stay up through Saturday afternoon, the state source said.

But with no notification specifying that weapons would be fired on Friday, the electronic signs over Interstate 5 warning about live weapons fire were never lit until Saturday morning, a spokesperson for the California State Transportation Agency said.

A noise advisory published by Camp Pendleton on Oct. 16 did not detail any “noise generating events” scheduled for Friday at the base. The document says high explosive munitions would next be fired on Saturday into the base’s interior — specifically, a vast area in the northern central part of the base named the “Whiskey Impact Area” and the “Zulu Impact Area.”

Traffic stands still on Interstate 5 freeway as it runs through Camp Pendleton during a temporary freeway closure on Saturday after military officials confirmed that live-fire artillery rounds will be shot over the freeway, prompting state officials to shut down the freeway periodically in an unprecedented move, Oct. 18, 2025.

(Jonathan Alcorn/For The Times)

The governor’s office said last week that they were initially told that federal authorities were considering closing I-5 for Saturday’s event. When no order materialized by Oct. 15, state officials began weighing whether to do so themselves.

Then, on the evening of Oct. 15, the Marine Corps posted a statement on X saying that no public highways or transportation routes would be closed, while saying it intended to hold a “live-fire” demonstration on Saturday at Camp Pendleton. State officials said on Oct. 16, the Marines confirmed their exercise would be conducted on its training ranges, as is done routinely, and not over the freeway.

Amid those assurances, by the morning of Oct. 16, state officials had backed off the idea of closing Interstate 5.

However, federal authorities had reached out separately to request that train service through Camp Pendleton be halted for Saturday’s celebration.

But the reason for the cancellation of train service on Saturday may have had more to do with security procedures involving Vice President JD Vance. He arrived at Saturday’s military demonstration to give a speech and had a seaside view of the M777 howitzers as they fired the first volley of shells.

On Oct. 15, it was the U.S. Secret Service who reached out to the North County Transit District, which owns the railroad through Camp Pendleton, to request that the tracks be closed through the base on Saturday. The Secret Service requested the rail closure as part of its “advanced planning,” the agency told The Times this week.

“NCTD accommodated the request and maintained consistent coordination between our rail agency partners, as well as state and federal officials, in the days leading up to the event,” said NCTD Chief of Staff Mary Dover.

As a result, the Pacific Surfliner train service was paused through Camp Pendleton on Saturday afternoon. Metrolink canceled all train service in the area on Saturday.

It wasn’t until late Friday that Caltrans received word from military officials that a live-fire demonstration was planned over I-5 Saturday, according to state transportation officials.

“Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement issued around 7 a.m. Saturday, announcing that there would be a closure of I-5 in the area near the munitions fire. Caltrans announced that a 17-mile stretch of I-5 would be closed during the demonstration “due to safety concerns.”

The White House’s Rapid Response Team on social media criticized Newsom for closing the freeway. “Not only did nobody at the White House or the Marines ask him to do so, the Marines repeatedly said there are no public safety concerns with today’s exercises,” said the post, which went up just after 11 a.m.

On Saturday, a California Highway Patrol cruiser and motorcycle parked on an I-5 onramp was hit by shrapnel after an artillery round prematurely exploded in midair, raining debris down, instead of reaching the impact zone. Though no one was hurt, the incident has raised questions about how officials intended to protect motorists and transit riders.

The artillery round that exploded over the freeway came from the first volley fired from M777 howitzers at Red Beach. Although one round detonated midflight, the four remaining rounds hit their intended target at the base, Pirek said. Upon learning of the midair explosion, the Marines canceled the firing of 55 more rounds.

The Marine Corps is investigating the incident. Officials say they suspect the detonating fuse on one of the rounds malfunctioned and caused the explosion.

The M777 howitzer is an indirect fire weapon, meaning that it’s made to loft explosive shells in an arced trajectory over friendly forces and into enemy territory. Pirek said that, until now, the weapons system used had “pretty much a 0% malfunction rate.”

The Marine Corps has said that shells from M777 artillery pieces have been fired over I-5 previously without the need to close the route.

The Corps hasn’t yet answered questions on when, or how often, that has happened. But experts, including a retired senior Marine officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, told The Times that it’s highly unusual for them to fire live rounds over the freeway.

The California State Transportation Agency in a statement to The Times saying it is “unaware of any previous live-fire demonstrations that included firing weapons over a state freeway.”

“Safety is our top priority — this was an unprecedented and potentially dangerous event for the traveling public,” the agency said in a statement.

Rep. Mike Levin, a Democrat who represents northern San Diego County and southern Orange County, and Sens. Alex Padilla and Alex Schiff, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asking that they answer questions about how Saturday’s event was planned.

The letter was co-signed by more than two dozen other members of Congress.

“While we are relieved no one was injured, we are deeply concerned by the decision making that led to this incident,” the letter said. “Who made the final decision that the live fire demonstration was considered to be safe? When was this decision made?”