The suspect investigators say is responsible for the deadly explosion at a fertility clinic in Palm Springs was identified as 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus, authorities announced Sunday.
Bartkus, a Twentynine Palms resident, is believed to have carried out Saturday’s car explosion that took his life and injured four others.
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WATCH HEREMultiple law enforcement tactical officers were seen outside a Twentynine Palms residence late Saturday, about an hour away from the Palm Springs fertility clinic. The investigation was related to the explosion, sources tell NBC News.
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SIGN UP The explosion was reported sometime before 11 a.m. Saturday on the 1100 block of North Indian Canyon Drive, near Desert Regional Hospital, in a parking lot near American Reproductive Centers.
In a news conference, Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI Los Angeles field office, called the blast an intentional act of terrorism.
“Make no mistake, this is an intentional act of terrorism,” Davis said. “The FBI is investigating it as such. Our Joint Terrorism Task Force is here, working in lock step with the Palm Springs police department, the ATF and a whole host of agencies.”
Two senior law enforcement officials said the apparent motive behind the bombing comes from Bartkus' anti-natalism ideology, which is the belief that no one should have children ever. Because the apparent target was the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic, the FBI deemed the explosion an act of terrorism.
Palm Springs Police Department Chief Andy Mills said in a post online that the blast field extended for blocks with debris scattered in the streets of the desert community east of Los Angeles. Davis estimated the debris field extended for about 250 yards.
Video from the scene showed several first responders in the area and a thick plume of smoke billowing from the fertility clinic.
