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Law enforcement in Southern California say they're fairly confident they know who's responsible for a large car bomb that badly damaged a fertility clinic in Palm Springs over the weekend. They're calling the incident, which killed one person and wounded four others, an act of terrorism. NPR'S Jason DeRose reports from Palm Springs.
JASON DEROSE, BYLINE: The FBI says 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus is the primary suspect in the bombing of the American Reproductive Centers clinic on Saturday morning. And they say he tried to livestream the attack. Akil Davis is the assistant director of the bureau's Los Angeles office, and he says the suspect may have held the extremist view that people should not procreate.
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AKIL DAVIS: The subject had nihilistic ideations, and this was a targeted attack against the IVF facility. Make no mistake, we are treating this as an intentional act of terrorism.
DEROSE: The explosion was powerful. It collapsed part of the clinic's one-story stucco and tile building and shattered windows blocks around. Davis says debris is strewn across the five-lane street on which the clinic is located and that it's probably one of the biggest bomb explosions in Southern California history.
DAVIS: Just for reference, to throw pieces of vehicle hundreds of feet in the air and then several blocks away, imagine how big that bomb device was.
DEROSE: This resort town of about 45,000 residents lies in the desert roughly two hours east of Los Angeles, and it's shaken. The city's police chief, Andrew Mills, wants to reassure residents and visitors.
ANDREW MILLS: This is a city of people celebrating life. It's a beacon and a safe haven for all. And we really focus on inclusivity and a community that is welcoming to all people.
DEROSE: Mills is referring to the city's large LGBTQ population. In fact, the IVF clinic that was attacked specifically caters to members of the community seeking to have children. He says that because of the swift action of the Palm Springs Fire Department, all the embryos stored at the clinic were saved.
MILLS: I really want to recognize the IVF community. This has been one of those heartbreaking things for many community members who are going through the process of trying to build families.
NAOMI SOTO: A person who wanted to instill fear in our community with an act of terrorism may have caused damage to our buildings, but that person only managed to unite our community even more.
DEROSE: The city's mayor pro tem, Naomi Soto, wants to pull focus back to Palm Springs' strength.
SOTO: We stand united against violence, against hate. Palm Springs is a city of love, acceptance, joy and hope.
DEROSE: About an hour northeast of Palm Springs, on the other side of Joshua Tree National Park, is the city of Twentynine Palms. That's where authorities believe suspect Guy Edward Bartkus may have lived. Over the weekend, they evacuated a neighborhood there due to fears of additional explosives in a house possibly owned by the suspect's mother. Twentynine Palms resident Thomas Bickel (ph) lives near that site.
THOMAS BICKEL: I just got done talking to my kids on the phone. Like, all of a sudden, it wasn't just a knock, that the sheriffs were pounding on my door. So I opened the door. There was about, I think, like, five sheriffs there, and they told me I needed to evacuate.
DEROSE: Bickel says the evacuation came as a shock.
BICKEL: About 20 years ago, I was in Afghanistan. And when I came back, the last thing I thought I'd have to worry about here is bombs, let alone right by my house.
DEROSE: Authorities say the four people wounded in the attack have been treated and released. The FBI continues to investigate the motive behind the bombing, but because they believe the suspect is the lone person who died in the explosion, the FBI says the community is no longer in danger from him.
Jason DeRose, NPR News, Palm Springs, California.
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