SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — California politicians are demanding answers from the federal government on live fire shooting that prompted a full closure of the 5 freeway in San Diego County.
Twenty six California House Representatives and the state’s two U.S. Senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, have sent a letter to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, asking what exactly happened, and what led up to the live firing during the Marine Corps’ 250th Birthday celebration on October 18, which Vice President JD Vance and Hegseth were attending.
I-5 freeway temporarily shuts down for live fire exercise at Camp Pendleton
“Who is responsible for making the call to fire live ammunition over the freeway?” U.S. Representative Mike Levin is asking. He helped lead the letter to Hegseth and has asked for a response by October 29.
Some of the 13 questions they want answers to include:
- “How did the USMC and relevant components prepare for this event? When did theUSMC and relevant components begin preparing for this event?
- Please describe the process the USMC conducted under the “detailed risk assessment.”
- Who directed the USMC to conduct the artillery demonstration over Interstate 5? Whomade the final decision that the live fire demonstration was considered to be safe? Whenwas this decision made?
- Who made the final decision that the federal government would not require the closure ofInterstate 5?
- What caused the round to detonate prematurely? Are there any plans to update safetyprotocol to prevent future incidents from occurring?”
Just days before the event, the Marine Corps had said in a news release that “no public highways or transportation routes will be closed.” But the morning of the celebration, California Governor Gavin Newsom and California Highway Patrol announced the closure of the 5 freeway for several hours that Saturday, over safety concerns that live fire was being shot over the active freeway…