A bomb explosion outside a California fertility clinic has killed one person and injured four others in an “intentional act of terrorism”, FBI officials have said.
The blast happened just before 11:00 local time (19:00 BST) less than a mile from downtown Palm Springs, near several businesses including the American Reproductive Centers (ARC). The clinic said no-one from the facility was harmed.
The suspect in the blast has been identified as 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus, according to sources familiar with the investigation who spoke to BBC’s US partner CBS News.
Witnesses told the BBC the blast was strong enough to shatter windows and badly damage a nearby building that housed the ARC.
Michael Beaumier, a witness, said he was knocked off his bike by the blast. “It was that big of an explosion and I could hear windows shattering all around me,” he said.
Rhino Williams, who was at his restaurant nearby, told the BBC he initially thought the explosion was a plane or helicopter crashing.
He said he ran to the scene to see if he could help, finding a badly damaged building with walls blown out and the front axle of a car on fire in the car park.
“That’s all that was left of it,” Mr Williams said. He also saw an iPhone on a tripod still standing in the car park, as if it was set to film or stream the explosion.
Mr Williams said he rushed through the building shouting for any injured people – but did not find any. A few minutes later first responders arrived.
Nima Tabrizi, another witness, said he heard a “big boom”, a large cloud of smoke and the front of the clinic “completely blown out”.
The FBI said in a Saturday briefing that it was a deliberate attack.
“This was an intentional act of terrorism. As our investigation will unfold we will determine if it’s international terrorism or domestic terrorism,” said Akil Davis, the head of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.
The FBI later said it had “a person of interest” in its investigation, but officers were “not actively searching” for the suspect.
Law enforcement sources told CBS that the Bartkus, the suspect, is a resident of Twentynine Palms, home to a large marine base about an hour away from Palm Springs.
They added that he had stated in writings and recordings that he is opposed to increasing the population and is against in vitro fertilisation (IVF) – a service offered by clinic that was targeted – saying it is “extremely wrong”.
The blast was a result of a large vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, the sources said. It was felt more than a mile away from the explosion.
Palm Springs police chief Andy Mills said the blast damaged several buildings, some severely.
He added that the identity of the person who was killed was not known.
The ARC in Palm Springs said the explosion occurred in the car park near its building.
The fertility clinic said their lab, including all eggs and embryos, remained “fully secure and undamaged”.
“We are heavily conducting a complete safety inspection and have confirmed that our operations and sensitive medical areas were not impacted by the blast,” the clinic said in its statement.
But Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the clinic, told the Associated Press that the clinic’s office was damaged.
“I really have no clue what happened,” he said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
According to its website, the ARC clinic is the first full-service fertility centre and IVF lab in the Coachella Valley.
It offers services including fertility evaluations, IVF, egg donation and freezing, reproductive support for same-sex couples and surrogacy.
The Center for Reproductive Rights responded to the incident, calling the attack “unconscionable”.
“The history of violence against reproductive health centers is why clinics need protections and patients must feel safe,” the legal advocacy group said in a statement, adding that it is concerned about “the heated political debate around fertility treatments” in the US.
Lawmakers, advocates and medical professionals have clashed over issues of access and regulation of reproductive rights in recent years, making it an election issue in 2024. IVF is broadly popular in the US across the political spectrum, but some far right circles are vocally opposed to assisted reproductive technologies on religious or moral grounds.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state was co-ordinating with local and federal authorities, while US Attorney General Pam Bondi said she had been briefed on the incident.
