The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that a Saturday explosion near the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California, which left one individual dead and four others injured, was an “intentional act of terrorism.”
In a Saturday post on X, formerly Twitter, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said, “We can confirm that the Palm Springs explosion was an intentional attack. My office along with the FBI will be leading the terrorism investigation into this incident.”
On Sunday, Essayli announced that the suspect had been identified as 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus and that the suspect was believed to be the individual who was declared dead at the scene of Saturday’s explosion.
“Investigators are working to positively identify the remains. An anti pro-life manifesto believed to be authored by the suspect has been located and is being examined by the FBI,” Essayli said. “We are happy to report that no embryos at the IVF center were damaged by the explosion. This case is being treated as an intentional act of domestic terrorism. The investigation is ongoing.”
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According to The Los Angeles Times, Palm Springs Mayor Ron deHarte described Saturday’s explosion near the fertility clinic as “intentional” and said officials could “confirm it was a bomb in or near a vehicle parked at the building.”
Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, told reporters that Saturday’s explosion was “significant” and covered “several blocks.”
“Make no mistake. This is an intentional act of terrorism,” Davis said. “The FBI is investigating it as such.”
The Associated Press reported that Dr. Maher Abdallah, who leads the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic in Palm Springs, confirmed that Saturday’s explosion resulted in damage to the clinic’s office space; however, all of the clinic’s staff was accounted for, and the in vitro fertilization lab and embryos, which are stored offsite, were not damaged in the explosion.
“I really have no clue what happened,” Abdallah told The Associated Press. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
In a post on X, FBI Los Angeles shared a picture of Bartkus and confirmed that he had been identified as the “primary suspect” in Saturday’s “vehicle explosion.” The FBI added that the vehicle used in the “intentional act of terrorism” was a silver Ford Fusion.
