Days of intense military training exercises at empty buildings have Southern California on edge
Key takeaways
- A series of military exercises taking place in empty buildings across the Southland are scaring residents and rattling neighbors as the sound of gunfire rings out in the dark and troops descend from helicopters.
- Multiple nights this week, the sounds of simulated urban warfare have erupted in the middle of the night in parts of sleepy Pasadena and Long Beach and in an empty mall in the San Gabriel Valley.
- As some residents went to bed, video showed a helicopter thundering across the sky as soldiers jumped onto the roof of an empty hospital in the middle of a tree-lined residential neighborhood in Pasadena Wednesday night.
A series of military exercises taking place in empty buildings across the Southland are rattling residents. Here, a military helicopter was photographed in Long Beach Thursday evening. (On Scene.TV) By Salvador Hernandez and Richard Winton June 6, 2026 4 AM PT 7 min Click here to listen to this article Share via Close extra sharing options Email Facebook X Linked In Threads Reddit Whats App Copy Link URL Copied! Print 0:00 0:00 1x This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
A series of military exercises taking place in empty buildings across the Southland are scaring residents and rattling neighbors as the sound of gunfire rings out in the dark and troops descend from helicopters.
Multiple nights this week, the sounds of simulated urban warfare have erupted in the middle of the night in parts of sleepy Pasadena and Long Beach and in an empty mall in the San Gabriel Valley.