Days of intense military training exercises at empty buildings have Southern California on edge

[Freija]

Days of intense military training exercises at empty buildings have Southern California on edge - AOL

Military exercises across Southern California have shaken some residents as sounds of gunfire and helicopters have erupted in the middle of the night.

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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.

Officials have said they've been given little notice and had no say on where or when the exercises would take place.

"People are trying to sleep," said Rick Cole, a Pasadena City Council member in a video posted on Instagram late Wednesday as the training continued in the background. "This is going to go on for a while and good luck to the people who have to get up and go to work tomorrow morning."

The operation, at the vacant St. Luke Medical Center in the 2600 block of East Washington Boulevard, included simulated gunfire, flash grenades and a military helicopter that hovered over the building.

Police were told by the military about the training and asked officers to provide security around the abandoned hospital months ago, a city spokesperson told The Times. But city officials were not given details about the operation, and were not able to notify the public until hours before the training 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.

Asked what the city knew before the drills, Gordo said police had been informed of activity but not the scope and significance. He noted that the drills were taking place at locations scheduled to host Olympic events.

A U.S. military officer familiar with the exercises told The Times the training involved "highly trained soldiers who operated in challenging situations and terrains and want real-life facilities.

"They don't train on the same cinder-block training facilities as other units," said the officer, who was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

"Despite the notification to the city's Police Department, elected city officials said they received no notice about the training until just a few hours before it was set to begin."

 

[worked4dhs]

hopefully this isn't rehearsal for Teheran...