In Palm Springs, California, the individual who died in a vehicle explosion outside a fertility clinic has been identified as the suspect in an “intentional act of terrorism” that resulted in at least four others being injured, as confirmed by authorities on Sunday.
During a media briefing, Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, stated that law enforcement is “reasonably confident” that the deceased person discovered at the explosion site is Guy Edward Bartkus, aged 25, from Twentynine Palms.
The FBI is calling the car explosion an “intentional act of terrorism.”
While the inquiry is still in progress, Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills expressed full assurance that the city is secure, and there is no lingering danger. The four individuals who sustained injuries in the explosion have all been discharged from the hospital, as confirmed by officials.
The blast on Saturday created a debris field in a 360-degree perimeter, nearly 100 feet in every direction. The investigation is expected to last several days as federal bomb experts collect and piece together evidence.
“Make no mistake, this is an intentional act of terrorism,” Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, told reporters during a news conference Saturday evening. He said investigators believe the clinic was targeted.
One witness told Eyewitness News he found a camera on a tripod pointed at the blast zone right after the explosion. He turned it in to investigators.
The explosion in the 1300 block of Indian Canyon Drive happened around 11 a.m., rocking nearby buildings and leading to a fire and the partial collapse of the fertility clinic, according to authorities.
Davis said the blast was “probably one of the largest bombing investigations that we’ve had in Southern California,” comparing it to the 2018 bombing of an Aliso Viejo day spa that killed one person and severely injured two other people.
The fertility clinic near the blast, the American Reproductive Centers of Palm Springs, sustained the brunt of the damage from the blast, including a gaping hole through the building.
The clinic was not open at the time, so no employees or patients were inside the building. Despite the damage it sustained, the ARC said in a statement that none of the eggs, embryos and reproductive materials were harmed in the blast.
Who was Guy Edward Bartkus?
Authorities said Sunday that the suspect attempted to live stream the explosion. It’s unclear if he was successful in doing so.
The FBI is also tracking a possible manifesto.
“The subject had nihilistic ideations and this was a targeted attack against the IVF facility,” Davis told reporters, referring to the American Reproductive Centers of Palm Springs.
The Associated Press reported that sources close to the investigation said the person responsible for the explosion posted online their beliefs that the world should not be populated, potentially pointing to a motive.
Investigation in Twentynine Palms
In the hours following the blast, authorities zeroed in on a property on Adobe Road and Siesta Drive in Twentynine Palms less than 60 miles away from the origin of the explosion.
The area was evacuated because of possible bomb-making material in that home.
While authorities initially did not confirm that the search was connected to the Palm Springs incident, they said on Sunday that it was.
They do not believe that there is an ongoing threat to Twentynine Palms.
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