San Diego Unified Board of Education President Sharon Whitehurst-Payne, Ph.D. says she’s been asking the City of San Diego to shut down the police department’s outdoor gun range in the Fairmount Park neighborhood for years. Like many, she believes the sound of gunfire is harmful for children there and in the nearby Mt. Hope neighborhood.
“It doesn't seem fair to just say it’s OK. It’s not OK,” Whitehurst-Payne said. “If it were in La Jolla, I don’t think they would put up with it. And that’s been my message. Let’s look out for the children.”
Now she says her concerns have doubled following an NBC 7 Investigation into controversial findings the range may have exposed hundreds of families to dangerous levels of lead dust.
The city closed the range in May after more than a dozen officers reported elevated levels of lead in their blood. In response to a request for comment, Mayor Todd Gloria’s office denied an on-camera interview about the gun range.
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The county’s Air Pollution Control District projects thousands of people near the range may have been exposed to enough lead dust to increase cancer and brain development risks in children.
The city disagrees with the district’s risk assessment, hired its own consultants and wants more lead testing done at the range. In a written statement, a city spokesperson announced the mayor has no intention of reopening the range in its current form.
You can see our past coverage on that report here.
Rowan Elementary School is situated about five football fields northwest of the gun range, within the map of public health concern estimated by the APCD. However, Whitehurst-Payne says she isn’t just worried about Rowan students, but rather hundreds of district students that live in Mount Hope or within earshot of the range.
Whitehurst-Payne told us, “How do we expect children to compete with children who don’t have that?”
She says she’s pleased to learn the city has no plans to reopen the outdoor range, but wants the city to go a step further. Whitehurst-Payne is calling on the city of San Diego to perform lead testing on some students.
“I think the city right now is awakening to the fact that we’re serious about it,” Whitehurst-Payne said.
In fact, Whitehurst-Payne says she’s asked for that for more than two years. She says she has met privately with city leaders including Mayor Todd Gloria, City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera and Councilwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe to talk about the gun range.
In a sit-down interview with NBC 7 Investigates on Monday, Whitehurst-Payne drew major comparisons to recent lead exposure within some district schools. She said she felt the district took accountability for the concerns, notified parents and hired experts to help determine how to move forward. Now she wants the city to do the same regarding its gun range.
“They have to take the lead on that,” Whitehurst-Payne said. “They have to take ownership for it.”
When she first asked about getting lead testing for children near the range, Whitehurst-Payne says city leaders told her they would “look into it.” As of Wednesday evening, the city has not performed any community lead testing connected to the range.
“If there's a possibility that adults have too much, then what about the children? That’s my big concern,” Whitehurst-Payne said. “What about them?”
NBC 7 Investigates reached out to the mayor’s office for comment on the district’s request for student lead testing. A spokesperson gave us this statement:
“The City’s meetings with the school district were to provide status briefings on the gun range to the district. At no time did the District request that the City provide lead testing or ask that the range be shut down. Dr. Whitehurst-Payne did advise the Mayor that she would like the range to be shut down but was not speaking on behalf of the District…We have informed the County Department of Public Health about the APCD’s health risk assessment. They indicated their intent to meet with APCD on the HRA and will contact the City with their input after that meeting. Lead screenings and assessments are readily available via health care providers and commonly conducted in childhood health visits.”
The city of San Diego did provide NBC 7 Investigates child blood lead level testing data for 2020 and 2021. It did not show an increase in the number of children who tested with levels over the regulatory threshold. However, that information didn’t include any 2022 data, and was missing itemized information for several nearby zip codes. The city says it’s working to provide updated data.
Spokespeople for Councilmembers Elo-Rivera and Montgomery Steppe confirmed the elected city officials had multiple conversations with Whitehurst Payne about the range.
Elo-Rivera sent NBC 7 Investigates a written statement in response to Whitehurst-Payne’s calls for permanent closure and lead testing.
"Every neighborhood deserves a healthy environment and the communities in Council District 9 surrounding the firing range are no different. For decades, the residents in Fairmount Park and Mt. Hope, two communities that have suffered decades of injustices, have been traumatized by the continuous sound of guns being fired. Now that there are concerns about high levels of lead at this site, the range should be closed permanently and we should take the necessary steps to ensure the health and well-being of our residents. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of the families who live nearby and our City employees.”
Montgomery Steppe echoed Elo-Rivera’s remarks about keeping the gun range closed permanently:
“Hearing constant rounds of gunfire is traumatizing. And unfortunately, that is what the surrounding youth and families in this community have had to endure with this gun range. My office, residents of the area, and advocates have protested the community's exposure to this constant noise pollution for many years, so it's important to acknowledge that the permanent closure of this facility is a win for our community."
