Residents in Pasadena and Long Beach say nights of military training—complete with simulated gunfire, flash grenades, and helicopters—played out in residential neighborhoods and an abandoned hospital with little warning. City officials fault limited details fr
For multiple nights this week, residents in parts of Pasadena and Long Beach—then in the San Gabriel Valley—say they were pulled from sleep by the sound of gunfire and explosions that turned out to be part of military training.
Wednesday night, that fear crystallized over the vacant St. Luke Medical Center in Pasadena’s 2600 block of East Washington Boulevard. Rick Cole. a Pasadena City Council member. recorded video showing a military helicopter thundering across the sky as soldiers jumped onto the roof of an empty hospital in a tree-lined residential neighborhood.
The training included simulated gunfire, flash grenades, and a military helicopter that hovered over the building. Cole said the drills left his area “in the middle of what is normally a quiet residential neighborhood. ” and he described the noise bleeding into the hours when neighbors were trying to sleep.
“It’s going to go on for a while and good luck to the people who have to get up and go to work tomorrow morning,” Cole said in a video posted on Instagram late Wednesday as the training continued in the background.
Pasadena officials said they were given too little information, and not in time to properly prepare the public. A city spokesperson said police were told by the military and asked to provide security around the abandoned hospital months ago. but city officials were not given details about the operation and were not able to notify the public until hours before it began.
“It’s troubling and disappointing the federal government would not provide the leadership of this city information to share with our constituents, particularly because the same neighborhood was significantly impacted by the Eaton fire,” Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo said.
Gordo said police had been informed of activity but not the scope and significance. He added that the drills were taking place at locations scheduled to host Olympic events.
A statement from the city said the notification to the Police Department before the drills was “very generic.” The city said it notified the public only a few hours before the exercise was to begin. sent a notice to residents at 5:30 p.m. and notified elected council members via text six minutes prior.
“The City had no control on the timing of the exercise or specific details. Our priority was the safety of the residents and vehicle traffic in the immediate area,” the statement read.
Cole said he has been asking why the City Council and the public were not notified earlier, arguing the operation was a “war game in a residential neighborhood recently devastated by catastrophic fire” and that it took place “in the middle of the night.”
A U.S. military officer familiar with the exercises said the training involved “highly trained soldiers who operated in challenging situations and terrains” and that they want “real-life facilities.” The officer said the units “don’t train on the same cinder-block training facilities as other units. ” and said the officer was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
Cole recorded that the simulated gunfire and grenades went on for about 45 minutes, according to statements he made in a post just before 2 a.m. Thursday. He said part of the training was supposed to take place at about midnight but was pushed back due to “technical difficulties.”
“I really don’t understand why the U.S. military needs to come into a residential neighborhood without notice and be setting off artificial flash bangs at midnight when people are trying to get sleep,” Cole said. “I understand why people are outraged.”
Pasadena’s police department was not the only one caught navigating public concern. City officials in Long Beach and City of Industry warned residents about training exercises in their neighborhoods Thursday night. saying noise could continue until 2 a.m. Videos posted on Facebook from Long Beach showed flashes and bangs in neighborhoods and the loud rotor of a helicopter overhead. One video showed a helicopter landing in a dark parking lot while uniformed soldiers rushed the aircraft. with a police vehicle parked nearby with lights flashing.
Irvine police issued a similar alert Wednesday night, warning about loud noise because of the training expected between 8 p.m. and midnight.
The helicopter seen in the regional training was from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, or SOAR, an official said.
Cole said his concern isn’t only the lack of notice. but whether the drills are part of a broader attempt to intimidate or pressure cities. He asked if the activity was connected to “some pattern of. you know. either training for domestic warfare or intimidating a domestic audience. ” and said he “don’t have a good answer for that.”.
The unease comes with political baggage. In September of last year, President Trump addressed a rare gathering of top U.S. military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, where he said he was interested in using U.S. cities as training grounds for the military. During the speech, Trump criticized Democratic leaders in U.S. cities for their response to immigration protests. The comments came about three months after the president deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles as large crowds protested widespread. aggressive immigration raids.
“And I told [Secretary of Defense] Pete [Hegseth], we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military,” Trump said in the speech. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On the ground. the immediate story for residents is simpler: nights that were supposed to be quiet carried the sound of gunfire and grenades. and the warning arrived late—if at all. Cole’s posts captured the moment the noise broke through the dark. while city leaders pointed to a lack of federal communication as their hardest grievance. The military’s explanation—focused on realism. terrain. and specialized training—does little to blunt the anger people expressed after seeing drills unfold in their neighborhoods.
Pasadena Long Beach military training flash grenades helicopter SOAR St. Luke Medical Center Eaton fire city officials notification Los Angeles County