One dead after suspected bomb blast near reproductive health clinic in Palm Springs
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PALM SPRINGS — A suspected bomb blast the FBI described as “an intentional act of terrorism” outside a fertility clinic left one person dead and at least four reportedly injured in Palm Springs on Saturday.
FBI Assistant Director for Los Angeles Akil Davis said the agency’s joint terrorism investigators were on the scene. He described the blast as so large as to cause damage several blocks away.
An internal briefing circulated Saturday afternoon by senior officials within the Los Angeles Police Department and viewed by The Times noted that the FBI had confirmed the suspect was the sole fatality. That briefing also said police had found two rifles — an AK-47 and an AR-platform rifle — along with ammunition next to the exploded vehicle.
As the day progressed, the investigation moved 50 miles northeast to Twentynine Palms, where local residents reported law enforcement had cordoned off a section of desert tract homes, some wielding axes, in what appeared to be a search for explosives.
A law enforcement source provided The Times with a police briefing that identified the suspect as a 25-year-old man from Twentynine Palms.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department confirmed it was assisting the FBI in its investigation in Twentynine Palms. Spokesperson Mara Rodriguez referred further questions to the FBI.
The community is home to the U.S. Marine Corps’ largest base.
During a 5 p.m. press briefing, Davis said the FBI had “a person of interest” in the case, but “we are not actively out searching for a suspect.” He would not answer further questions about the investigation.
The blast was reportedly felt more than two miles away and severely damaged the clinic and several other buildings. The incident occurred just before 11 a.m. at North Indian Canyon Drive near East Tachevah Drive, Palm Springs officials said.
Photos from the scene showed extensive damage to American Reproductive Centers, a fertility clinic and in vitro fertilization lab across the street from Desert Regional Medical Center. An office building two blocks from the blast had its windows blown out, as did a Denny’s five blocks away.
Palm Springs officials said that the explosion came from either inside or near a car parked on Indian Canyon outside the clinic.
“The blast appears to be an intentional act of violence,” Palm Springs Fire Chief Paul Alvarado said.
Palm Springs Police Chief Andrew Mills described the blast as an act of terrorism but said that it was an isolated incident, adding that there was no larger threat to the public.
Authorities said they are still trying to identify the deceased person. Davis declined to comment on whether that person is considered the possible suspect.
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Numerous law enforcement agencies were on scene, including Palm Springs police, the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Investigators, bomb technicians and an evidence response team from the FBI were being deployed, the agency said in a statement on X.
By mid-afternoon, emergency officials had blocked off roads near the blast and white police trucks were stationed in front of the building. Authorities encouraged residents to leave any potential evidence in place and contact law enforcement.
One witness told the Desert Sun newspaper that he saw body parts and car parts when he walked past the clinic five minutes after the blast.
American Reproductive Centers is “Coachella Valley’s first and only full-service fertility center and IVF lab,” led by board-certified Dr. Maher A. Abdallah, according to its website.
The site says that the clinic has helped more than 2,000 families become parents and highlights its work with LGBTQ+ families. The clinic has operated in the Coachella Valley since 2009 after moving from Orange County, and has been in its current location since 2013, according to the Desert Sun.
Abdallah told the Associated Press in a phone interview Saturday that all of his staff were safe and accounted for.
“Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients,” Abdallah said.
The explosion damaged the practice’s office space, where it conducts consultations with patients, but left the IVF lab and all of the stored embryos there unharmed, Abdallah told the wire service.
The clinic referred to the incident as a “vehicle explosion” in a statement posted on Facebook. It said it would be open and fully operational on Monday.
“This moment has shaken us — but it has not stopped us,” the statement said. “We will continue to serve with strength, love, and the hope that brings new life into the world.”
The clinic posted a photo of the blast’s aftermath that showed the building’s roof caved in, debris flowing into the streets and smoke billowing from inside.
Tim Prendergast, co-owner at the gallery Christopher Anthony Ltd., was about two blocks away from the explosion site at his business. He first felt the shock wave hit the building and thought it was the start of an earthquake.
“But of course, once I felt, heard the explosion, then I knew it wasn’t an earthquake,” he said.
He ran down the street to the explosion site, following a black cloud of smoke, and arrived there in a few minutes. He saw a vehicle on fire and the medical building engulfed in flames. There were multiple people walking around the area in a daze. Some were bloodied but able to stand.
Then he came across body parts in the street.
“I was on Palm Canyon, and I saw the upper torso of a full body,” he said as his voice broke. “There were a lot of body parts, but they were all radiating away from the explosion of the car.”
There were pieces of the car and other debris fanning out from the explosion, along with insulation floating in the air, he said.
“I also noticed the hundreds and thousands of pieces of car parts radiating in every direction from the car circular pattern that was only interrupted by the back facade of the American Reproductive Center,” he added.
He worried the bombing was an act of domestic terrorism targeting a clinic that served the LGBTQ+ community.
“I’m horrified. I’m completely shattered,” he said.
“I think the fear in this town has risen to an unbelievable level for the gay community,” he said. “I think people are very terrified right now. I can see it on people’s faces.”
Former patient Staci Franklin said she was floored by the news of the incident.
“All he’s doing is giving women hope to have babies,” she said of Abdallah, whose clinic helped her get pregnant with her daughter, now 16.
Franklin said she and her husband spent the hours after the explosion debating possible motives, speculating about a disgruntled patient or an extremist from the far fringe of the antiabortion movement, who might have sought to destroy embryos to “make a statement.”
“If that was their motivation, I’m glad they failed,” she said.
Former American Reproductive Centers patient Jaclyn Ferber Calonne was at a baby shower when she started receiving text messages about the explosion outside the fertility clinic.
As a new mother to an infant, she said she immediately thought about the people whose eggs or embryos could have been endangered or damaged in the blast. She also thought about the clinic staff who had cared for her and her husband while they were undergoing IVF.
She said she had never seen protesters outside the clinic. Especially in a city that welcomes and celebrates diversity, she said it had never crossed her mind that the facility could be a target of violence.
“When you’re going through fertility challenges, there is so much that is out of your control, and the last thing on your mind is, ‘Oh my gosh, what if my fertility clinic blows up?’” she said. “That’s not something you should have to worry about on top of all the other things that you can’t control.”
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