'One in a million' malfunction rained shrapnel onto 5 Freeway near Camp Pendleton, report says

"Of all days for this very low probability event to happen, why this one? What was different from the thousands of times before this event employing the same shell-fuze combination, weapons system, and highly trained Marines? There is no definitive answer to these questions."

"The detonation of a military round over the 5 Freeway during an exercise at Camp Pendleton in October was a "one in a million" malfunction that investigators have struggled to explain, according to a report from the U.S. Marine Corps released Friday. The investigation determined the military round exploded before it was supposed to because the device's fuze went off early, raining metal shrapnel below."

During a Marine Corps 250th anniversary celebration at Camp Pendleton on October 18, a live-fire weapons demonstration resulted in a military round detonating prematurely over the 5 Freeway. The device's fuze malfunctioned, causing the round to explode before reaching its intended target and scattering metal shrapnel below, which punctured a California Highway Patrol cruiser. The U.S. Marine Corps investigation classified the incident as a "one in a million" malfunction but found no definitive explanation for why the malfunction occurred despite thousands of previous successful uses of the same shell-fuze combination and weapons system. A 17-mile freeway stretch was closed for 30 minutes before the exercise, causing significant traffic disruption and drawing criticism from Governor Newsom.

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