PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — In the upscale area of Palm Springs, California, an explosion at a fertility clinic is believed to have been deliberate, according to local officials. The incident left one person dead, prompting the FBI to dispatch investigators, including bomb experts, to the site.
Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills stated on Saturday that the explosion seemed to be a “premeditated act of violence,” resulting in damage to multiple buildings, some of which were extensively affected.
“There has been one fatality, the person’s identity is not known,” Mills’ statement said.
Two law enforcement representatives, who requested anonymity due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, reported that the incident is being explored as a potential car explosion. One official mentioned to the AP that it is suspected the deceased individual may have been the one who triggered the explosion, but emphasized that the investigation is still in its nascent phase. No motive has been shared by authorities at this point.
FBI’s Los Angeles field office said in a social media post on X that “assets being deployed include investigators, bomb technicians & an evidence response team.” Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also assisting.
The city of Palm Springs said Saturday that the explosion happened at 11 a.m. local time and that residents were being 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 clinic was damaged. He told The Associated Press in a phone interview that all of his staff were safe and accounted for. 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.
“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, was chatting with customers at a restaurant he helps manage inside the Skylark Hotel just over a block away from the scene when he heard a huge boom. Everything rattled, he said, and Williams — who has a background in aviation — immediately sprinted to the scene to see if anyone was in need of help, thinking a helicopter might have crashed.
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 spotted a car’s front axle on fire in the building’s 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. It’s known for its tony resorts, golf courses and a history of celebrity residents.
