CAMP PENDLETON - (INT) – The temporary shut down of the busy I-5 during a military exercise at Camp Pendleton Saturday didn’t go as planned.

The California Highway Patrol has disclosed that metal shrapnel from explosive ordnance fired over the freeway detonated overhead prematurely, striking and damaging a CHP patrol vehicle.

Traffic had been stopped. There were no injuries.

CHP officers had been supporting a traffic break.

“This was an unusual and concerning situation,” said CHP Border Division Chief Tony Coronado, himself a former Marine. “It is highly uncommon for any live-fire or explosive training activity to occur over an active freeway”, he said.

Story Date: November 1, 2025