PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — An explosion killed a person and heavily damaged a fertility clinic Saturday in the upscale California city of Palm Springs in what the FBI characterized as an “intentional act of terrorism.”
Akil Davis, the head of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said in the evening that the clinic was deliberately targeted, while declining to elaborate on how authorities have reached a conclusion on a motive.
Authorities were still working to confirm the identity of the person who died at the scene. Davis would not directly say whether that person was the suspect but said authorities were not searching for a suspect.
WATCH: Replay of the press conference with FBI, City of Palm Springs, Palm Springs PD, ATF officials
Davis also said four people were hurt but provided no additional details on the severity of the injuries. Authorities were also investigating the possibility that the explosion was being livestreamed.
The FBI said it sent investigators, including bomb technicians, to the scene.
"This is an ongoing investigation. We are not prepared to comment on that at this moment. We are not prepared to provide any additional comments on the relationship between the decedent and our person of interest," Davis said. "We have a person of interest in this investigation, but we are not actively out searching for a suspect."
Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills said in a statement that the blast “appears to be an intentional act of violence” and several buildings were damaged, some severely.
"I am confident that the community is not at risk any longer," Mills said. "Terrorism came knocking on the door of Palm Springs. We survived, and I can tell you that this city will rise and be more effective as a beacon of hope than before."
Mills also warned people to be on the lookout for potential evidence and alert law enforcement if they find it. The debris field spanned over 250 yards, authorities said.
"There are blocks of debris. It will take a meticulous effort to make sure that we get every piece of evidence so we understand very thoroughly what happened. So people are going to need to be patient with us," Mills said.
Davis said this is one of the largest bombing investigations the Los Angeles FBI field office has ever undertaken. He compared it to the 2018 Aliso Viejo bombing in Orange County.
The act was being investigated as a possible car explosion, according to two law enforcement officials briefed on the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss preliminary information from an ongoing investigation.
One of the officials told AP that investigators believe the person who died was likely the person who set off the explosion, but they cautioned that the investigation was still in its early stages.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said federal agents were working to learn more, adding, “Let me be clear: the Trump administration understands that women and mothers are the heartbeat of America. Violence against a fertility clinic is unforgivable.”
The FBI's Los Angeles field office said via the social platform X that “investigators, bomb technicians & an evidence response team” were among assets that were deployed. Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also assisting.
The city of Palm Springs said the explosion happened at 11 a.m. and residents were asked to avoid the area around North Indian Canyon Drive near East Tachevah Drive.
Dr. Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic, confirmed that his facility was damaged. He told AP in a phone interview that all staffers were safe and accounted for. The explosion damaged the practice’s office space, where it conducts consultations with patients, but the IVF lab and the stored embryos were spared.
“I really have no clue what happened,” Abdallah said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
Aerial video showed a burned-out car in a parking lot behind the building that housed the fertility clinic’s office space. The blast caved in the roof and blew a wide debris field across a sidewalk and four lanes of the street on the other side of the structure.
Rhino Williams, 47, said he was chatting with customers at a restaurant he helps manage inside the Skylark Hotel just over a block away when he heard a huge boom. Everything rattled, Williams said, and he sprinted to the scene to see if anyone was in need of help.
Williams saw a large dark gray plume of smoke and covered his nose with his shirt as he smelled burning plastic and rubber. He said he saw a building had “blown out” into the street, with bricks and debris scattered everywhere, and he spotted a car’s front axle on fire in the parking lot.
He said it was the only car in the lot that he saw. He ran into the building, calling out and peering behind the counter to see if anyone was inside. He did not hear a response and did not see anyone behind the counter.
Williams then ran around to check on other buildings. Multiple windows of the neighboring liquor store were also blown out, he said. Once he saw authorities arrive, he headed back to the hotel.
Nima Tabrizi, 37, of Santa Monica, said he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
“The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke,” Tabrizi said. “Crazy explosion. It felt like a bomb went off. ... We went up to the scene, and we saw human remains.”
Palm Springs is about a two-hour drive east of Los Angeles. Its known for upscale resorts, golf courses and a history of celebrity residents.
ABC 10News reached out to both the San Diego County Sheriff's Office and San Diego Police Department Saturday afternoon. The sheriff's office says there are no known threats to the San Diego area; however, there will be deputies patrolling at fertility centers out of an abundance of caution.
SDPD also said there "is no specific information or intelligence to suggest any threats to San Diego."
"We remain vigilant with our patrols and protecting human life is our highest priority," SDPD says.
